The Whale Song

I was completely unaware of the O₂ levels in my tank. As the current kept pulling me, I was dazzled by the patterns of this deep blue jungle. In time I started hearing them. A click, a pulse, a whistle, boings, groans, cries, and some thrills. Was it a choir in the dark? Or a whale near me? I dreamt…

Unlike land dwellers, it’s difficult to communicate inside water, due to the lack of smell and proper sight within the ocean. Owing to the fact that sound travels faster in the ocean than in the air, marine mammals often rely on vocalization to communicate. This fills the ocean with a chorus of soothing sounds. The symphony of these sounds makes a song, which is sung by the world’s largest mammals, the Whales. Out of all the whales, Blue, Fin, Humpback, Bowhead, and Minke whale species can sing. They are all Baleen whales that use hairy baleen plates to trap their prey instead of teeth. Even though toothed whales, do echolocation, they lack the complex note scheme of a song.

Whales might sing for many reasons. Most whale singers are males, who sing during the mating season, probably to attract their female partners. A song might be also used to mark their territory so that other males don’t interfere. It may be also used to attract their young and to coordinate with migration.

As songs sung by different nationalities change, whales of a certain discrete population have their own unique song. Whale returns to their breeding and feeding sites annually. It has been found that phrases of a certain whale song are exchanged between males of different discrete populations. This cultural relationship, where songs are exchanged by different individuals of the same species has been effective to attract mates, which is truly remarkable as the same way we humans sing songs of different cultures to build up partnerships.

“Beep, beep, beep…”, I saw a red light. The O₂ level: Critical. Noise everywhere. No whales near me…I am still asleep…

A tree can absorb about 48 pounds of CO₂. But a whale can absorb up to 33 tons of CO₂ in its lifetime. Whales help increase the production of phytoplankton which contributes to 50% of O₂ in the atmosphere and captures CO₂ which is equivalent to 1.7 trillion trees or 4 Amazon forests. Whales provide a great contribution to control climate change and provides the environment for us to breathe. Day by day, the ocean is getting noisier, which affects directly the communication of whales. They avoid feeding and breeding areas with high noise. Ocean pollution has caused whale deaths, all around the globe, where plastics accumulate within their blubbers.

“…Struggling with the last breath, I started swimming towards the ocean bed which was yet invisible. The faster I swam, the more O₂ I consume. I felt the lungs collapsing along with my windpipe as the final rays of light penetrated through the ocean bed…”  I woke up…

Limiting human activities such as underwater construction, seismic survey, military sonars in the breeding and feeding routes of whales should be practiced in order to ensure their survival. Furthermore, trash should not be disposed to oceans. Whales are an intelligent group of fascinating creatures who are an essential element for the equilibrium in nature, and that equilibrium should not be disturbed.

The whales do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song. It’s our duty to listen.

By Rtr. Dilshan Chandraguptha

Image Credits:

References:

• Ocean Alliance: https://whale.org/