Whales 'use pick-up lines'
2007-11-08 12:00
Sydney - Australian scientists studying
humpback whale sounds say they have begun to decode their mysterious communication system, identifying male
pick-up lines and motherly warnings.
Wops, thwops, grumbles and squeaks are part of the
extensive whale repertoire recorded by scientists from the
University of Queensland working on the Humpback Whale Acoustic
Research Collaboration (HARC) project.
Recording whale sounds over a three-year period, scientists
discovered at least 34 different types of whale calls, with
data published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of
America.
"I was expecting to find maybe 10 different social
vocalisations, but in actual fact found 34. It's just such a
wide, varied repertoire," University of Queensland researcher
Rebecca Dunlop said.
The researchers studied migrating east humpback whales, as
they travelled up and down Australia's east coast, and recorded
660 sounds from 61 different groups.
Researchers attached audio transmitters to buoys near the
whales and monitored the whale interaction from the shore.
Many of the whale sounds could overlap in meaning, said
Dunlop, but some had clear meanings.
A purr by males appeared to signify the male was trying his
luck to mate a desirable female. High frequency cries and
screams were associated with disagreements, when males jostled
to escort females during migration, she said.
A wop sound was common when mothers were together with
their young. "The wop was probably one of the most common
sounds I heard, probably signifying a mom calf contact call," said Dunlop.
Dunlop stopped short of defining the whale communication as
a language, but said there were clear similarities with human
interaction.
"Its quite fascinating that they're obviously marine
mammals, they've been separated from terrestrial mammals for a
long, long, long time, but yet still seem to be following the
same basic communication system," she said.
Dunlop hopes further research on the subject will help
reveal the effect of boats and man-induced sonar on migrating
whales.