Humpback whales stop singing when cargo ships make a lot of noise

[Judi Lynn]

24 October 2018

By New Scientist Staff and Press Association

Whales stop singing when cargo ships produce noise nearby. A study found that male humpback whales living around the Ogasawara Islands in Japan stopped or reduced their singing in reaction to low-frequency shipping noise.

Ogasawara Whale Watching Association and Hokkaido University in Japan used two underwater recorders to capture whale song between February and May 2017. It found fewer whales sang within 500 metres of the shipping lane than elsewhere when a ship passed through the remote area.

Whales within 1200 metres tended to temporarily reduce or stop their singing after the ships passed, with most of the creatures not resuming their songs for at least half an hour. The study captured the singing of one to three whales per day, and 26 singers in total.

“Humpback whales seemed to stop singing temporarily rather than modifying sound characteristics of their song under the noise, generated by a passenger-cargo liner,” said the authors.

Male humpback whales can be heard singing during the mating season, both alone and in groups. All the males in a population sing the same song, which changes over time, and females and calves do not sing.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2183552-humpback-whales-stop-singing-when-cargo-ships-make-a-lot-of-noise/

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Duppers]

1. Humans disrupt nature everywhere. 😞

Thanks, J.L. for all your posts.