A Whale of a Song

Abstract

song of humpback whale, nature's loudest, longest and slowest song, is an evolving art form. In addition to being performers, humpback whales seem to be composers, constantly incorporating new elements into their old tune. Roger Payne of New York Zoological Society and Sylvia A. Earle of California Academy of Sciences told a press conference of discoveries about whale's song, and also about its feeding, that indicate an intriguing intelligence. Rumbling bass passages and squeaky treble phrases, arranged in complex sequences, make up song of humpback whale. If song is sped up fourteen times, it sounds surprisingly like a bird's song. (A recording of whale song at natural tempo and at high speed is included in January NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, along with articles by Payne and Earle.) At its natural speed, whale song evokes a variety of human reactions. Writer and biologist Richard Ellis describes its ethereal beauty and others liken it to an enticing siren's song (see box). But in 1856 Charles Nordhoff reported a whale under boat uttering the most doleful groans, interspersed with a gurgling sound such as a drowning man might make. Occasionally Earle and other researchers have dived near singing, 40-ton whales. Under water song was so intense that we could feel sound as air spaces in our heads and our bodies resonated, Earle says. Underwater cinematographer Al Giddings described experience as feeling like drums on my chest. When researchers transcribed numerous whale songs from underwater recordings, they found that all humpback whales in an area sing same song, although whales are well out of synchrony in duets or choruses. By analyzing songs collected over twenty years Katy Payne, Roger Payne's colleague and wife, discovered that songs change progressively from year to year. The songs of two consecutive years are more alike than two that are separated by several years, Roger Payne says. For example, songs we taped in 1964 and 1969 are as different as Beethoven from Beatles. He points out, We are aware of no other animal besides man in which this strange and complicated behavior occurs, and we have no idea of reason behind it. Paralleling some critics of human music, Roger Payne says that songs of 60s were more beautiful than those of 70s. Because whales only sing in winter, Roger Payne says researchers' first hypothesis was that changes reflect flawed memory; humpbacks simply forget part of song over summer and have to improvise in parts each fall. When Paynes and Earle organized a six-month study to record a full season of songs, they learned that whales return to their winter grounds faultlessly singing song of last season. variations arise only as winter progresses; an old phrase gradually decreases in frequency and a new phrase takes its place. Roger Payne observes that introduction of new material and phasing out of old in many ways are similar to evolution of language. Like human compositions, whale songs have a defined structure. In a given year, humpback whales that winter in Hawaii sing a different song than whales wintering in Bermuda. But structure of song and rules for change are same. Each song, for example, contains about six themes that follow in same order. Each phrase contains 2 to 5 sounds. If a theme is deleted, others stay in order. researchers have deduced about fourteen simple, predictive laws for song modification. Because laws of composition are same between two, probably isolated, herds of Roger Payne suggests that whales inherit, genetically or through learning, a set of song rules. must be a function of huge brain to keep track of changes, he says. In addition, whales must memorize all complicated sounds and their orders and store information at least six months. To me, this suggests an impressive mental ability and a possible route in future to assess intelligence of whales, Roger Payne says. purpose of elaborate song so far eludes scientists. They suspect from circumstantial evidence that it is a love song. It is sung only in one season, suspected to be breeding time, and only by adults. So far all singers that have been sexed are male, but researchers have been unable to determine sex of most of whales they observe. Linking specific behaviors with song is an immediate goal of research. Roger Payne says that whales are almost always alone and relatively inactive when they start to sing. When more whales appear on scene, first stops singing and they all go off in a tumbling melee. Systematic investigation is a challenge, because scientists find it difficult even to tell which whale is making sound. Because like opera singers, breathe surreptitiously at certain points where breath won't interrupt song, researchers identify singer by listening for a characteristic breath spot while scanning ocean surface for a spout. (The song is performed entirely by I