Why do humpback whales sing?
Although it is the best known and most studied large whale, nobody knows exactly why the humpback whale sings. As the songs are performed almost exclusively in the breeding grounds, researchers believe that singing and mating go together. But whether a male is trying to impress a female or get rid of competitors or show his social status still remains a secret. Another theory explains the singing as a kind of sonar to find other whales. A recent study by Dr. Darling and his team shows several hypotheses still being studied. One is females are chased by singing and non-singing males. Another is pairs of males around females take on different roles of blocking and chasing, and yet another is not all male-singer relationships are non-agnostic, that is, in many instances they witnessed highly agnostic reactions. The research team found that with adult male/male interactions that were mediated with song were extremely common in our breeding grounds and that the singing usually stopped with the interaction. They also found most interactions were with an adult male singer being joined by another adult male, and at some times two adult males. Also according to the team, several observations appear to tie in sequential behavioral patterns. Most common, they say, is a lone male singing, occasionally singers are accompanying a mom/calf, and a small percentage was a singing male accompanied by another adult, sex unknown. They feel the song might help in organizing the males and may provide a real time measure of association between the different males and maybe providing a means of mutual assistance in mating. Definitely more studies will need to be done. We look forward to reading the results of future work and will eagerly share it with you.
