More Important than the Hump

We have done a lot of discussion about animal calls from smaller animals, such as birds, crickets and many more. It turns out that even the largest of animals in the kingdom have their own open or closed systems of calling for their mates during breeding system. And the Megaptera novaeangliae, more commonly known as the Humpback Whale or Baleen Whale, is one of them.

Normally these particular whales are known for their unique appearance, with it’s enormous lower jaw and large head covered with tubercles. It has very long flippers with these same tubercules (which look like knobs) on them. Baleen whales normally grow to be about 52 feet (16 m) long and weigh around 30-50 tons (females grow to be a little bit bigger.) In front of the dorsal fin lies the famous “hump” of it’s back.

But what is even more intriguing and unique about these whales is that “During breeding season the Humpback males are known for singing the longest and most complex songs in the animal kingdom.” http://www.omplace.com/omsites/discover/HUMP/humpg.html. Upon hearing this, I was a little surprised. I can understand how they would sing very long drawn out songs, since they have a huge, robust body to encompass vast amounts of air and large lungs. It is said that their songs can last up to 10 minutes long. But what I was more taken aback by was the fact that this gigantic mammal had such a complex call. When I think of intricate calls I think of smaller animals, having to make their calls more complex so mates can distinguish considering they are small and can’t physically be too loud. But these humpback whales supposedly take home the prize.

Their calls sound like barks, chirps, or moans to the human ear. You can hear a humpback whale call if you go to the website: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/blueplanet/sounds/sounds.html. The sound is a bit startling at first since the whale releases such a high frequency call to begin with. But afterward, it changes its call into a low frequency, bellowing sound. To me, it sounds almost as if some kind of brass instrument is playing low notes under water.


Even though it must be hard for the other aquatic animals to “filter out” the calls of the gigantic males because of the volume of their calls, at least their testes don’t grow numerous times the size of their body during breeding season. The call is (in many marine biologists eyes) “beautiful” and even more importantly, extremely effective in giving the information to their mate.

Posted By: Natalie Nicholson (1)