Humpback Whale Songs Travel 9,000 Miles Across the Pacific Ocean, Suggesting Remarkable Cultural Evolution

New research found that humpback whales throughout the South Pacific Ocean are connected via their shared song. Science Alert reported that researchers found that from the east coast of Australia to French Polynesia to the breeding grounds in Ecuador, which is more than 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers), humpback whales are trading the same themes of songs.

Males were known to belt out mating songs during the breeding season and each population has its vocalizations that they string together in different ways. known as themes. But every once in a while, they undergo a song revolution that replaces old songs with new ones and studies have shown they can be smashed hits.

(Photo : Pixabay/12019)
Humpback Whale Songs Travel 9,000 Miles Across the Pacific Ocean, Suggesting Remarkable Cultural Evolution

Whale Song Revolution Throughout the Years

Scientists have observed that humpback whales on the west coast of Australia seem to be sharing themes with those on the east coast at the end of the 20th century. Years later, breeding populations near French Polynesia about 3,730 miles (6,000 kilometers) away from the Australian east coast were detected singing the same song themes

Now, it seems that it has spread further even reaching across the Pacific Ocean to South America, which is 4,970 miles (8,000 kilometers) east. Researchers mapped the gradual song revolution from 2016 to 2018 when they first heard it in French Polynesia and then again in South America.

They wrote in their study, titled "Humpback Whale Song Revolutions Continue to Spread From the Central Into the Eastern South Pacific" published in the Royal Society Open Science, that the findings demonstrate how whale songs first identified in western populations can be transmitted across the South Pacific.

It is not known whether these songs can migrate across the Indian Ocean to get back to Australia. But per the report of The New York Times, preliminary results off the coast of Brazil and South Africa show a complete circumnavigation across the planet may be possible.

However, the team said that it is likely that the original whale song has already evolved beyond recognition by the time it gets back to its original breeding population. They added that whales may be laying down a whole new track of songs as it is passed around the planet.

They noted that the study of whale songs draws parallels to songbird song characteristics and sheds light on the mechanism underlying the social and cultural evolution in animals from fishes to other cetacean species and humans. For now, they are not sure how whales share their songs with neighboring whale populations, but they have some hypotheses.

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Importance of Understanding Whale Song Evolution

Ellen Garland, of the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St. Andrews, told New Scientist that these new songs are completely different from the original songs. "These really rapid cultural changes are not seen in any other animal species, it's happened so fast," she said.

She and her team suggest that songs travel when neighboring populations of humpback whales migrate between their breeding and feeding grounds and pass within the acoustic range of each group.

They are currently exploring if whale song transmission could be further traced back to the South Pacific basin where there is a high likelihood that they could be. They think that this could pave the way for a "circumpolar Southern Hemisphere cultural transmission of song and vocal future" that was once only believed to exist in humans.

Understanding the whale song transmission or revolution among populations will help in understanding the evolution of speech and communication in other species, especially humans.