How whales sleep and other interesting facts about amazing giants. Whales talk to each other no worse than people. What sound do whales make?

Life in the ocean is different from life on land. Dive underwater and try to smell an orange or see something more than a meter away from you. Animals that live in water must have developed special ways of perceiving the world, different from sight and smell. One of these methods was sound. Whales have a whole range of sounds that they use both to communicate and find their way in the dark depths. But only certain species of whales “sing.”

Whales are divided into two groups depending on the way they feed: toothed whales and baleen whales.

Toothed whales are more aggressive. These include sperm whales, dolphins and killer whales. These whales feed like tigers in the jungle, hunting and pursuing prey (from small fish to octopuses and sea lions). They swallow everything they catch whole.

Outwardly “better-mannered” baleen whales feed by swimming through the water with their mouths open and sucking in small plants and animals along with the water. They filter water with planktonic mollusks, crustaceans and small fish through special horny plates. There are from 360 to 800 of them in the upper jaw, they are from 20 to 450 cm long and are called whalebone. The inner edge and top of each plate are split into thin and long bristles, forming a kind of thick sieve. Baleen whales include enormous blue whales and singing humpback whales.

The sea is dark in color even during the day, and many toothed whales travel and hunt at night. How do they do it? Just like a bat flying in the dead of night, some whales make sounds and then pick up their echoes. These sounds are similar to clicks or whistles. When a sound wave encounters an obstacle in its path, such as a rock or fish, it is reflected back.

Ordinary ears cannot help underwater. Sound waves are vibrations in the air that cause the eardrum to move. And the wave propagating in the water causes the entire skull to vibrate. Therefore, when whales returned to the ocean in ancient times, their now useless ear canals narrowed to the size of the eye of a needle. However, whales do have eardrums, but sound travels to them along a completely different route, passing from the jaw bone or forehead through a layer of fat to the eardrums.

In addition to clicking their jaws (which resemble a creaking door), toothed whales use whistles and trills to communicate. (The beluga whale, which is a toothed whale, produces so many trills that it is called the sea canary.) Whales also make sounds by striking their caudal fin (the two plates of their tail). In some whales, these sounds are so loud that they resemble the sound of a jackhammer.

Baleen whales click, chirp, and whistle, just like toothed whales. But they also make low-pitched moans. Humpback whales make similar sounds while chasing prey, and they can turn into a “song” and last more than an hour. Scientists call these "songs" because they have rhythm, structure, and repeated phrases (like choruses or refrains), and only humpback whales "sing."

Scientists who recorded and analyzed these “songs” say that if they were broken down into sounds and a language was made from these sounds, then some “songs” would contain information no less than a small book. Some sounds are too low for the human ear to hear, and others need to be played at a very slow tempo for us to understand them. The “song” itself is the same for whales from different parts of the ocean, but the number of phrases for each individual is individual. Whales change their “songs” depending on the season. No one knows why whales sing or what their “songs” mean. It has been suggested that the “songs” help males establish the boundaries of their possessions or are part of a mating ritual. But these are just human interpretations of a world of whales that we may not understand at all.

A lone whale has been swimming in the North Pacific Ocean for 20 years, unable to communicate with its relatives because it speaks on the wrong frequency.

The language barrier

The fundamental frequency of the calls of all baleen whales living in the North Pacific Ocean is at the limit of human audibility, between 10 and 20 Hz. But there is one whale that makes sounds at a frequency of 52 Hz. The unusual pitch of the voice, as many researchers believe, has led to the animal spending all its time alone. Over the years of observations, his calls never mixed with the calls of other whales.

First meeting

A whale named 52 Hz was first heard in 1989. His call was recorded by US Navy hydrophones stationed in the Pacific Ocean during the Cold War to alert enemy submarines. Three years later, the military allowed oceanographers to use their equipment, and since then the whale has been monitored continuously.

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Song

The whale got its name 52 Hz due to the fundamental frequency of its calls. In addition to frequency, its calls differ from the calls of other whales in rhythm and structure.

Biography

Since its discovery, the 52 Hz song has been heard every year - most recently last winter. Therefore he is at least 23 years old. During this time, according to some researchers, his voice became coarser, that is, he turned from a teenager into an adult. How long it will live is unknown, but baleen whales are believed to live for many decades.

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Routes

Scientists can map the movements of a mammal over many years, even though no one has ever seen it. 52 Hz travels across the North Pacific Ocean, covering several thousand kilometers during the winter months - when it is audible. It usually moves at a speed of less than 4 km/h, but almost without stopping. Its paths lie in deep water hundreds of kilometers from the coast.

Communication

A whale's song consists of a series of calls lasting several seconds. Having given up the urge, 52 Hz remains silent for several minutes and then starts again. Some days he screams with minor breaks for 20 hours straight. You can hear it in winter - from December to February, the rest of the time nothing is known about it.

Researchers

The first biographer of 52 Hz was biologist William Watkins, one of the first people to record the voices of whales and dolphins. His interest in languages ​​extended beyond animals: he knew several West African languages, and completed his dissertation on whale biology in Tokyo in Japanese.

Hearing

Whales find conspecifics (representatives of their own species) primarily by hearing. Light travels worse in water than in air, and sounds travel four times faster, allowing you to hear each other many kilometers away. Baleen whales produce sounds with a volume of more than 150 decibels - a person is physically unable to tolerate such a level of noise. The calls of blue whales can be recorded on a sensitive hydrophone from hundreds of kilometers away.

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Relatives

There are three species of whales found in the North Pacific Ocean: the blue whale, the humpback whale and the fin whale, and they are all related. It is unknown what type 52 Hz belongs to. Perhaps he is a hybrid of two species of whales, or perhaps - although this is much less likely - he is the last representative of some other, unfamiliar species.

Lyell Weinberger

Serious research into the sounds made by animals in the underwater world began only in the 1940s. For the first time, thanks to an underwater microphone, researchers have studied in detail the clicks, whistles and songs of marine mammals. But the thorny question of what exactly they communicate to each other has kept scientists busy ever since.

Source and copyright - Leighton Lum, www.500px.com

Effective communicators

The vocabulary of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) is simply stunning. A recently published scientific paper has attracted the attention of various publications, as scientists have discovered that dolphins use their whistles to call out the names of other dolphins, and may be able to say the name of a third animal during a “conversation.”

The vocabulary of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) is simply stunning.

Unlike most land animals, the transmission of information during communication in whales and dolphins is more audible than visual. .This acoustic structure is simply ideal, because vision under water is extremely limited (visible sunlight penetrates only about 200 meters). Many fish do not communicate with each other using voice, but this does not mean that they have an unfortunate structure. The crux of the matter is that social aquatic animals rely on acoustic communication. Cetaceans are social animals and rely on their social structures for ecological survival, whereas most sharks, for example, are silent loners.

Powerful voices of giant creatures

Blue whales are especially amazing in this regard. They use deep, low-frequency sounds and are known for dominating low-frequency sound throughout the coast for many months. The sounds they make will include low-frequency “infrasounds” that humans cannot hear. Infrasounds travel over extremely long distances - biologists can determine the location of the whale making the sounds hundreds of kilometers away. Researchers believe these songs help whales navigate long distances by communicating with other whales and listening to echoes from the ocean floor, which helps them determine their geographic location.

Right whales are specialists in low-frequency sounds, while toothed whales are specialists in high-frequency sounds. Sperm whales emit high-frequency clicks, which has earned them the title of the loudest animal on earth. Almost a quarter of the sperm whale's body is occupied by the spermaceti organ,8 the main function of which is to focus and amplify loud clicks9 (the equivalent of such a sound on land is 170 decibels). What else this organ is used for is still largely unknown. Some scientists suggest that it is used as a ram in competitions with other whales. The click function is also still a matter of speculation! They may be used for echolocation (a kind of sonic location system that helps you "see" using echo sounds), but they may also have other functions.

Source and Copyright – Tony Rath, www.500px.com

Made for Vocal Learning

This poses a serious puzzle for evolutionists. Tiak continues his thought: “Most land animals do not seem to be able to modify their vocal repertoire based on what they hear. Some groups of marine mammals, whales and dolphins, have advanced vocal learning skills.". The problem for evolutionists is that cetaceans are far behind humans, according to the "evolutionary tree" ("phylogenetic tree").

This means that vocal learning must have evolved independently on land and in water. In addition, evolutionists believe that cetaceans and seals were land dwellers who occasionally entered the water. This means that they had to independently of each other evolve, developing numerous adaptations for life in water, including a unique gift for learning vocals. This evolutionary scenario is becoming increasingly implausible.

The ability of whales to learn sounds is another example demonstrating that the unique characteristics of animals again and again transcend the boundaries of evolutionary phylogeny. Biblical evolutionists expect that animals created by the same Creator should have many similarities (a fortunate design feature can be used in different designs). Evolutionists often explain such circumstances as “convergent evolution” (in which evolution came up with the same solution twice, independently of each other). But in fact, this only masks the real situation: such cases are not evidence of evolution, but an anomalous fact that they try to justify with a superficial explanation. And such “anomalous facts” haunt all evolutionist theories about whales. And so the logical explanation is not convergent evolution, but the commonality of design created by the Divine Creator, "for by him all things were created"(Colossians 1:16).

Study of the structure

The explanations about the structure of whale communication systems are very intuitive. Even evolutionists who do not believe in a Creator have allowed the use of the word “creation” to slip into their writings on the topic. Peter Tiak notes that some researchers believe that signals transmitted over long distances are a “feature of creation.”

Creation-based explanations are not “an obstacle to the advancement of science,” as some evolutionists say. As creationists, we recognize that there is purpose and meaning in whale communication. We know that on the fifth day of Creation Week, God created whales ideally suited to their needs. Belief in the purpose and order of the universe became the driving force behind all science. As Johannes Kepler stated, “the secrets [of science] ... stand before our eyes like a mirror, and by explaining them, we are to some extent able to observe the goodness and wisdom of the Creator”. What could be more logical than studying the signals of whales to reveal the purposes for which the Creator created them? And since we creation scientists we are waiting Finding elements of design and intelligent design in whales is the most encouraging and meaningful incentive we can find in our research.

Links and notes

I want to talk about whales only in superlatives. These multi-ton giants are peaceful and playful. Some of them live up to 200 years, but it is not completely clear why whales die. They are almost immortal.

1. Whales and immortality

Whales are long-lived. Some of them, such as the Bowhead whale, live up to 200 years. All their lives they develop, reproduce, grow, and at a more mature age they do this with no less intensity than in their “youth”.

Research on whales can help medicine solve the problem of aging, since even the oldest whales show no signs of aging when studied. Whales, like some other animals (such as mole rats) do not become decrepit. Scientists still cannot give a definite answer as to why they die.

The age of whales can be determined by the protein content in the lens of the eye, which is formed in these mammals at birth. Cloudiness of the lens is currently the only indicator of aging. Scientist Vladimir Skulachev, who has been studying the issue of aging for many years, believes that it is possible that whales go blind and then simply break up.

2. Whales are listening

Whales have fairly poor eyesight and no sense of smell at all, so whales perceive the world around them mainly by hearing. They have a very good one. It is interesting that whales do not have external ears; they perceive sounds through the lower jaw, from which the resonance spreads to the inner and middle ear. Whales communicate with each other at a distance using sounds. It has been established that whales are capable of making the loudest sounds of all creatures living on Earth; other individuals can hear whale “talks” at a distance of more than 15,000 kilometers.
Amazingly, whales love music. Last year, two American artists descended into the ocean in a submersible with classical music playing. The whales showed great interest in this "concert".
And one more thing: in captivity, whales can learn to imitate human speech. They imitate it by sharply increasing the pressure in their nasal cavities and causing their vocal lips to vibrate.

3. Sperm whales sleep standing up

Whales can hardly be called “dormouse”; they can go without sleep for up to three months, but they sleep very little and for short periods of time, and do this not far from the surface of the water. The whales stop their movements and slowly dive. Despite their mass, due to the high content of fat in their bodies, whales weigh little more than the specific gravity of water, so they dive slowly.
The most interesting way for sperm whales to sleep is while standing. This was discovered recently. A group of scientists off the coast of Chile discovered a whole school of sperm whales that swam vertically. Approaching the giants, the scientists even dared to touch them, but the sperm whales did not wake up. Sperm whales sleep from 6 pm to midnight, an average of 12 minutes per cycle before ascending and capturing air.

4. Trap mouths

The paper, published in 2012 in the journal Nature, was a study by a group of scientists who were studying minke whales. Scientists managed to find a previously unknown sense organ of a whale. It is a sac-shaped cluster of muscles and blood vessels in the center of the lower jaw. Interestingly, the division of the lower jaw occurred in whales 30 million years ago.

The discovered organ, according to scientists, serves as a tool for coordinating the movement of the two halves of the jaw during the feeding process. This organ helps make the movement of the oral cavity sharp and synchronous during an attack.

Minke whales hunt krill, capturing them along with the water. The whales then filter the water through the baleen. The entire cycle takes no more than a couple of minutes. Amazingly, the mass of water that whales capture with one opening of their mouth can be a quarter greater than the mass of the animal itself.

5. The very best

Whales are the largest animals on the planet. The numbers alone are amazing. They may not eat for eight months, but in the summer, during the “lunch” period, they eat almost without a break, eating up to three tons of food per day; the number of calories they absorb is on average a million.
Whales are constantly on the move, they cross vast distances in the ocean, practically without losing their course. According to scientists' research, the deviation from a straight line among migrating sperm whales does not exceed 1 degree. How whales manage to achieve such precision has not yet been clarified (there are versions about the sense of a magnetic field and orientation in the sky).
Whales weigh up to 150 tons. The mass of an average whale is equal to the mass of approximately 2,700 people, the mass of a whale’s heart is 500-700 kilograms, and 8,000 liters of blood circulate daily through vessels whose diameter reaches 30 centimeters.

Whales are amazing animals. These are the largest creatures on the planet and, despite their gigantic size, one of the most harmless. Cases of their attacks on people are extremely rare; this mainly happens when a ship accidentally floats on an animal. We have collected the most interesting information about these creatures!

Whales can stay awake for months

If necessary, whales can easily go without sleep for three months. Well, they sleep almost on the surface of the water. The body of a whale has a high content of light adipose tissue, so the weight of the animal slightly exceeds the specific gravity of water. So the sleeping whale slowly sinks to the depths, and after a while hits its tail in its sleep, after which it rises to the surface again. Here, after inhaling air, the animal again begins to slowly descend deeper. Until the next tail swipe.

The whale is the largest animal on the planet

The largest whales are blue ones. And they are probably the largest creatures that have ever inhabited the planet.

On average, the length of a whale is from 22 to 27 meters, females are always larger than males. The largest known whale was caught in 1926; it reached a length of 33 meters, and the weight of the animal was 150 tons. Some scientists believe that whales used to be even larger; they simply became smaller due to whaling. So, there is some evidence that among blue whales there were real giants up to 37 meters.

The weight of a whale's heart alone is 600-700 kg, and its vessels are about the diameter of a bucket. About 8 thousand liters of blood flow through these arteries.

What sounds do whales make?

No other living creature on our planet can make a sound as loud as a whale. The call of one of the representatives at low frequencies can be heard by whales at a distance of more than 16 thousand kilometers.

How do whales hear?

Whales do not have external ears, but listen through their throats. And to be more precise, the lower jaw. From it, sound penetrates to the middle and inner throat.

Whales also have very poor eyesight and no sense of smell, so hearing is the only way to navigate the ocean and get food. Therefore, ships and other external noises caused by humans cause enormous inconvenience to whales.

How much does a whale eat?

Whales consume an incredible amount of calories: they eat about three tons of food per day. The main “dishes” are small crustaceans and algae, sometimes small fish and squid. True, they eat only in the summer, and for about 8 months a year they eat practically nothing; they survive due to accumulated fat. And, as a result, in the summer, whales simply eat all day long, devouring everything in their path.

Whale tails are like fingerprints

Whales do not have fingers, but these animals have tails instead. The fact is that each whale has its own unique tail with a unique pattern, and this uniqueness is formed by furrows, brown algae stains and scars.

The closest relatives of whales are hippos

The hypothesis states that the ancestors of whales lived on land and walked on four legs. However, during the course of evolution, they descended into the ocean in search of food. At first they simply hunted fish in the water and went ashore to rest, but due to competition with other animals, the ancestors of whales had to go further and further. So they remained to live in the ocean. This happened about 50 million years ago.

All cetaceans (including dolphins) are descendants of artiodactyls. Well, the closest relative of the whale is the hippopotamus. They descended from a single ancestor who lived on the planet 54 million years ago.

How whales breathe

Whales can go without oxygen for up to two hours, but the animal typically inhales between one and four times per minute. Their respiratory tract is designed in such a way that inhalation and exhalation occur very quickly: for example, a blue whale inhales 2000 liters of air per second. When animals are in the water, the blowhole closes with a valve.

What kind of milk do whales have?

Everyone knows that whales are mammals and feed their young with breast milk. For a long time, scientists only speculated how this could happen, but a couple of years ago, environmentalists managed to film a baby feeding. Whale mother's milk is very thick and has a consistency similar to toothpaste. It is rich in protein and the fat content is 50%. The cub receives about 90 liters of milk from the mother per day; on average, feeding lasts 7 months. So how does this happen?

The fact is that females have nipples covered with a layer of skin, thanks to which they easily glide through the water. Babies do not have flexible lips with which they can wrap around the nipple, like ordinary mammals. Therefore, feeding occurs as follows: the baby swims up to the mother, dives under her, and at the moment of this contact the mother bends her abdominal muscles and exposes her nipple, splashing milk into the baby’s mouth. Then the baby swims away from the mother, and then returns again, the process repeats. Amazing coherence and interaction!

At birth, the cub reaches approximately 9 meters in length, and by the age of one and a half years it grows to 20 meters and gains weight up to 45-50 tons.

Blue whales are monogamous

Whales are very social animals, they communicate with each other. It is reliably known that blue whales are monogamous animals, they form a married couple for a long time, and the male does not leave the female under any circumstances, they always stay close to each other.

People believed that you could live in the stomach of a whale

There used to be many legends that people could survive in the stomach of a whale. So, there is biblical confirmation of this: the prophet Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale. And also remember the fairy tale about Pinocchio and the famous Disney cartoon, where the woodworker Geppetto was swallowed by a whale.

People believed that after a shipwreck, if sailors were swallowed by a whale, they could live in its stomach for months. What a journey!

However, what is it really? A person simply cannot penetrate through the throat: it is the size of a small plate. But there are whales that can swallow a person whole, these are sperm whales. But their stomach has very high acidity, so it is impossible to survive there.

Whales can talk

And not only among themselves. Whales are capable of imitating human speech. For a long time they did not believe in this, but scientists conducted an experiment on the beluga. The mammal was trained to make sounds on command and sensors were attached to it. It turned out that the beluga “talks” in the following way: it sharply increases the pressure in the nasal cavities and thereby causes the phonic lips (formations in the nasopharynx, with the help of which cetaceans make sounds) to vibrate.