WHALE VOCALIZATIONS
What is Vocalization?
Vocalization is the act of communication by, to, or
between individuals or groups. Whale Vocalizations are
sounds or noises created by whales to communicate.
These sounds are emitted in a repeated and patterned
sequence which tends to last anywhere from 6 to 30
min. These vocal patterns were eventually defined as
songs by Payne & McVay (1971) because of their
repeatability.
Photo: Reidenberg and Laitman 2007
Whale songs can be
considered a language and
different pods of whales sing
different types of songs
Songs of the deep
Photo: factzoo.com
Production of Sound
Humans can produce sounds by passing air through
their larynx. Inside the larynx, when the vocal chords
are brought close together, the air passing through will
force them to open and close, splitting the constant
airstream into distinct pulses of air that are perceived
as vibrations. These vibrations are further changed by
specific speech organs in both the nasal and oral
cavities, creating speech. Baleen whales, unlike
humans, do not have the same phonic lip structure.
Whales have a larynx that appears to have some role
in sound production (though they lack vocal cords).
The process of sound production cannot be completely
similar to that of humans, however, because baleen
whales do not need to exhale in order to produce this
noise. Scientists have proposed that it is far more likely
that they recycle air around the body for this. Still
unsure of exactly what process is undertaken, some
have also put forth the possibility that cranial sinuses
may be used as well. Baleen whales may contract
muscles in throat and chest, forcing air to pass
between the laryngeal sac (pink tissue) and lungs.
Expansion and contraction of lungs and sac pushes air
over a u-shaped ridge of tissue, causing it to vibrate
and potentially produce sound.
WHALE VOCALIZATIONS Songs of the deep

Types of Vocalizations
Whales, by nature, are very social creatures that travel
the worlds oceans in groups known as pods. While
there are a variety of noises used to socialize and
communicate with one another, there are three main
vehicles for communication: whistles, clicks, and pulsed
calls. Clicks have been associated with navigation and
are used to determine their physical surroundings in a
process called echolocation. A whale makes a clicking
sound and when the sound waves from the clicks hit and
object and bounce off of that object, they return to the
whale. When the whale feels those returning sound
waves, or echoes, it is able to tell what shape the object
was and approximately where it is. This technique is
most commonly found in toothed whales and is used in
hunting. Instead, baleen whales, such as the
humpbacks found in the Marianas Islands, tend to
produce a series of longer sounds or songs used to
communicate with their pod, attract mates, or alert other
pods in the area of their presence. Pulsed calls are more
frequent, and resemble moans, roars, sighs, and high
pitches squeaks. Differing dialects can be found from
pod to pod within the same population. While much
uncertainty surrounds the exact purpose of these noises,
the songs been identified to have a social and cultural Photo: themermaidnyc.com

aspects.

Male Vocalizations
Male Humpbacks sing the longest, and by far most
complex songs in the animal kingdom. The songs
have been recorded to last anywhere from 10 min to
hours on end, and are divided into verses that are
sung in a specific order. Rodger Payne of the Ocean
Alliance describes them as inveterate composers
whose song changes as the months pass. All males
in the same ocean sing essentially the same song,
even though the current version takes time to travel.
Rhythms, phrases, and percussive elements have
Photo: BBC
all been claimed to exist within the Humpbacks
haunting calls.

Listen to recordings of humpback whale songs

at the oceanmanualinst.org or on YouTube

References: Gaun et al. 1999, Adam et al. 2013, Wells et al. 1999, www.prod2.phschool.com, www.environemtns.gov.au