Scientists have finally solved the mystery of how whales produce their distinctive, haunting songs underwater.
A groundbreaking new study published this week in the scientific journal Nature reveals that humpback whales and other baleen whales have evolved a “unique laryngeal structure” – or voice box – to produce sound. The bowhead whale’s larynx differs from other mammals in that it has a long, tight, cylindrical U-shape that “allows for massive expiratory and inspiratory airflows during surface breathing,” according to the study.
Within the animal’s respiratory tract, developed nasal and oral plugs protect the airways from water during breathing and feeding. Scientists have learned that air bubbles have evolved to allow the baleen whale to recycle air while making vocal sounds.
To carry out the study – led by Coen Elemans, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark – a team of researchers obtained minke, humpback and sei whales shortly after they died and had their larynxes removed to study them in the laboratory. Elemans told CNN that this level of analysis “has never been done before.”
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Humpback whale mother and calf.
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He and his team created computer models of whale voice boxes that simulate certain aspects that cannot be measured in the laboratory. They discovered that the lip whale’s voice box has “an entirely new mechanism that has not been described in any other animal,” Elemans told CNN.
“Now we have understood how [whales have] could communicate so successfully with each other on the water. And that evolved probably 40 million years ago and allowed today’s whales to be successful,” he explained to the outlet.
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A new study also revealed why the noise humans make in the ocean is so disruptive and harmful to large mammals. The laryngeal structures of whales have physiological limits to the frequency range and depth of their songs, making it difficult for them to communicate when there is loud noise from ships in the area.
“Sound is absolutely critical to their survival, because it’s the only way they can find each other to mate in the ocean,” Elemans explained to BBC News.
Elemans told CNN that he hopes the results of this new study can help “mitigate the noise we’re making” so whales can better communicate with each other.
“We really need to change the noise we make, the kind of noise we make, when we make it, where we make it,” he said.
A humpback whale jumped out of the water next to the tourist boat and waved at the astonished onlookers
Ellen Coombs, a Peter Buck postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study, noted in a statement to CNN that human-generated noise poses a significant “challenge” to whales.
“Many baleen whale populations are beginning to recover thanks to the end of commercial whaling in most countries — but it looks like these majestic animals are now facing their next man-made challenge, and it’s a noisy one,” Coombs said.
Elemans told CNN that the study “has only begun to scratch the surface” and only involved young animals. So he and his team hope to study adult whales to dig deeper and advance their findings.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education