Presentation slides
WHALES COMMUNICATION
Whales Communication
Presented by Haozi Liang
Whales Communication
Whales have unique communication method known as echolocation.
Their sounds can go very far as the sound waves travel along with water because of bouncing off effect.
The sound echoes back to the whale that send it.
The communication can travel one mile every second.
Whales uses various sounds to socialize and communicate to one another.
The main types of produced sounds are:
Clicks
Whistles and Pulsed calls
slapping noises
Singing
Whales possess a very intriguing communication method called echolocation. They get their sounds reach far as the waves of the sound travel along with water and get more power from the bouncing off found in it. The sounds echo to the source, the whale that sends it. This communication form can go as far as 1 mile per second (Dunlop, 2019). Whales are special creatures, and in most cases, they move in groups known as pods. They use various noises and sounds to socialize and communicate to each other. The major forms of sounds produced by whales are whistles, clicks, and pulsed calls.
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Whales use clicks to socialize and communicate with each other.
Clicks are used for identifying shapes of the objects
Whales use clicks to determine and differentiate friendly creatures and predators
Helps the whale to take the appropriate action on differentiating the creatures and objects.
Clicks have been observed during social interaction showing the communication value linked to the clicks.
The Clicks
Clicks are among the major forms of sounds made by whiles to communicate and socialize. Clicks are viewed to be used to identify physical surroundings and navigation. When the waves of sounds bounce off, they come back to the whale, communicating to the whale and helping in identifying the object shape (Posdaljian, Solsona Berga, Baumann-Pickering, Frasier, & Hildebrand, 2019). Clicks help the whales in determining and differentiating between predators and creatures, which are friendly. The whale may take the appropriate action after identifying the nature of the object or the creature. There have been observations of clicks over social interactions, indicating the communicative function associated with the clicks.
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Whistles and Pulsed Calls
Whistles and pulsed calls are mostly used during social activities.
The pulsed calls sounds like screams, squeaks and squawks to human ear.
Different pods have different pulsed calls
Are very important and used for identification of a stranger within the pods.
Whales produce and make loud pulsed calls and whistles. Whales use whistles and pulsed calls mostly during social activities. The pulsed calls are more often and to human ear sounds like screams, squeaks as well as squawks. There are different dialects within the whales' population. Each of the different whales' pods have different vocal from the other pods, although within the same population of whales (Dunlop, 2019). Pulsed calls are very important and used by whales to identify and differentiate between whales within the pods and strangers. Whales are likely to know the members of their pods and identify in case there is a stranger in the pod.
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Slapping Noises
Whales produce loud slapping noise.
Whales use the fins and tails to produce slapping sound on the water surface to pass communication.
The slapping sound travel hundred meters under the water surface.
The sound may be used to scare schools of fish and sometimes to catch them for meal.
The sounds are used by whales to communicate and send a sign of warning of aggression.
Whales produce loud slapping sounds on the water surface. They use their fins and tails to produce big slapping sounds and noises on the water surface to communicate with one another. The noises travel far way and can reach and be heard hundreds beneath the water surface. The loud slapping sounds may be used as a tool to instill fear on fish, have them as a possible food, and also can be used by the whales to send warnings of aggression (Dunlop, 2019). The noises serve to communicate the whale mood and aggression, which is very important.
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Singing
Singing is also used by the humpback whales to communicate something
The songs have a particular pattern
The sounds appears to be like a written lyrics, which comes out as a familiar chorus
Singing is mostly done when the whales are mating or migrating.
The sound of songs can go 100 miles.
Singing is another type of communication that the humpback whales use. If one listens for a long time, a repeated pattern is identified. The sounds appear to be written lyrics, which follow a specific and organized pattern that comes out like a familiar chorus. The whales most sing the songs when they are mating and migrating (Noad, 2016). The whales can take up to thirty minutes while still singing. The sound of the songs can move as far as a hundred miles away from a humpback whale location. The songs pass the message that the whales are either migrating or mating.
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Beluga Whales' Sound Perception and Production
The beluga whales can two signal generators simultaneously .
The two generators pulses are combined and transmitted through a melon to produce one echolocation click produced from the front of animal.
The pulses provide the ability to control energy and frequency distribution of the click produced and help to acoustically steer echolocation beam.
The sounds are produced by the air movement between the nasal sacs in the in the region of blowhole
The melon changes in belugas whales during production of sounds.
Beluga whales can use simultaneously, two signal generators during echolocation. The two generators pulses are combined together and transmitted through a melon to produce one echolocation click produced from the animal's front. Producing two pulses may give the beluga the power and the ability to control the frequency and the energy distribution of the produced click and also help steer the echolocation beam (Dunlop, 2019). The vocal of beluga can be heard through the ship hulls and above the water. The sounds are produced by the air movement between the nasal sacs in the region of the blowhole. It is during the production of sound, when the melon changes in belugas whales.
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Non-verbal Mode of Communication
Whales use non-verbal mode to communicate
The can do it just like human does by implying particular behaviors
May use body languages and physical gestures to share interests and experiences with one another.
They can express different behaviors to pass warnings and information:
Breaching
Body language
Lob tailing
Spy hopping
Besides using sound as a mode of communication, whales, too, utilizes non-verbal mode to communicate with others and pass massages. They do not have to produce any sound, but through the behavior and body language, they are able to pass important information just like is the case with the human being. Whales may use physical gestures and body language to share interests and experiences with one another. Whales can utilize a mix of different behaviors like breaching, lob tailing, and spy-hopping to communicate their intention to mate, warn other pods of whales, and showcase dominance and power in their environment.
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Body language, breaching, Lob tailing and spy hopping
Through the use of physical gestures and body language, whales can imply compassion, dominance, curiosity, nurture, and many other.
They can share interests and experiences amongst themselves.
Lob tailing can be used by whales to communicate aggression and warn the other whales on the possible danger around.
Beaching is a form of interaction and a warning of danger as well as a show of aggression.
Through the use of physical gestures and body language, whales can imply compassion, dominance, curiosity, nurture, and many others. They can share interests and experiences amongst themselves. Spy hopping is when the whale is partially above the water surface, observing the surroundings and providing security to the other whales. Lob tailing can be used by whales to communicate aggression and warn the other whales on the possible danger around. Humans have trained dolphins to lob tail as a way of implying a desire, such as requesting the trainer for food. Beaching is a form of interaction and a warning of danger as well as a show of aggression.
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Beluga Whales Learn the Language
Beluga whales are able to vocalize
There is no big difference in manner of beluga vocalization to that of human being.
Beluga may mimic the pattern and duration of human speech.
Whales are believed to be able to make speeches like human being but there is no recording of such speeches.
Beluga whales are able to vocalize in manner close to that of speech by people or at least in a group, one can. It is believed that beluga may mimic the durations and pattern of human speech. Although there is no strong evidence, that the beluga may put that vocal skills into practice and test. Due to high pitched chirps, whales are referred as sea canaries and it is believed that they may make speech like human beings although no recording (Dunlop, 2019). Similar to the human learning how to speech, the beluga starts with trying to get the vocal rhythm and pattern.
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Conclusion
Whales communication level may vary depending on the species.
Whales uses various sounds to communicate the aggression, experiences, interests and sense of danger.
Can use non –verbal mode of communication by showing certain behaviors and gestures to communicate something.
They travel in pods
They use echolocation to identify shape of an object and differentiate predators from friendly creatures.
They are intelligent species with unique communication among all the other animals.
The communication level of whales may vary greatly depending on the nature and species. Whales uses various sounds and noises to communicate their aggression, sense of danger, experiences as well as interests among other thing. They can use non-verbal mode of communication too by implying some behaviors and gestures to communicate with one another. Whales travel in pods and the sounds they produce can go far as it moves along with water (Dunlop, 2019). They use echolocation to identify the shape of an object and differentiate friendly from dangerous creatures. Whales are very intelligent species and have a sophisticated communication than other animals.
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Reference
Dunlop, R. A. (2019). The effects of vessel noise on the communication network of humpback whales. Royal Society Open Science, 6(11), 190967.
Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A., & Mack, A. (2016). How reliable is song as a cue for acoustic surveys of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) with changing population size and density?. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 140(4), 3359-3359.
Posdaljian, N., Solsona Berga, A., Baumann-Pickering, S., Frasier, K. E., & Hildebrand, J. (2019). Spatiotemporal distribution and population structure of sperm whales in the Eastern North Pacific. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 146(4), 2805-2805.
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