'The whale has no voice', wrote Melville in 'Moby Dick', 'but then again what has the whale to say? Seldom have I known any profound being that had anything to say to this world, unless to stammer out something by way of getting a living'. Not so. Whales may not sing for their suppers, but some of them certainly do sing. Melville failed to hear them because they sing underwater. Others have heard them without realising it. If whales sing near a wooden-bottomed boat, sailors in their bunks or hammocks may hear an eerie melodious wail from they know not where. Hence, perhaps, the many sea-tales of lullabies sung by drowned colleagues.
Why do they sing? First, spot the singers. There are two sorts of whales: the toothed whales- such as sperm, killer and pilot whal
es- who are closely relatives of the porpoise and the dolphin; and the toothless 'baleen' whales- such as the humpback, right and minke. Such creatures make sounds, but have not been known to sing. Each sperm whale produces a distinctive series of clicks-known as his coda- and will sometimes mimic a nearby whale's coda. Killer whales have identifiable dialects that are specific to each family. It is the baleen whales, especially the humpbacks, which break into song.
At any one time, all the singing whales in a population sing the same song. It gradually changes over time and each whale learns and copies the new variations. This is a formidable feat because the songs, which can last to thirty minutes, are highly complex. It is only the males who sing, and they do so chiefly during the breeding season. The songs seem- like many bird songs- to be a sort of display that males use in competing with each other for females.
Whales seem to use a structure like rhyme in poetry. And, like people, they may put in the rhymes to help them remember their songs. Whale song can be broken down into regularly repeating phrases, which in turn are organized into themes that always occur in the same sequence.
Some will doubt their conclusion because it makes whales seem implausibly human. Maybe they have not made whales 'human' enough. Perhaps the rhyming sirens of the deep are simply trying to please themselves and their audience.
Do whales sing? written by Cristina Nuta for FamousWhy.com
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Do whales sing? Image Source : dkd.net
by Cristina Nuta -
