When you picture the ocean, you might imagine peaceful blue waters and an underwater world full of calm and quiet. But beneath the surface, the ocean is actually far from silent — a full-blown symphony of calls, clicks, and crashing currents. From the popping sounds of snapping shrimp to the piercing cries of the leopard seal, the deep sea is full of sound — especially coming from whales!
For example, sperm whales can make the loudest sonar signals of any animal and are as loud as the noisiest sonars on warships.
Made up of patterns including clicks, whistles, pulsed calls, and songs — whale sounds serve many different purposes including navigation, tracking prey, avoiding predation, socialization, and even courtship and mating!
THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE SEA: WHALE CHAT 101
Whale species have their own signature style of communication. Some belt out complex songs, while others get their message across with body-made sounds.
Toothed whales, such as orcas, belugas, and sperm whales, use echolocation. This is when they send out a sound, wait until it hits something, and that sound bounces back as an echo. The whale is then able to analyze the information from this echo to understand how far away something is, its size, and even what it’s made of. Echolocation is so good that whales can sense their surroundings even in the darkest depths of the ocean!
Toothed whales also use other forms of sound to communicate. Sperm whales communicate using patterns of 3-40 clicks at a time — almost like sending Morse code through the deep seas. These clicks serve as their form of an alphabet, and make you wonder if young sperm whales learn their own version of the ABCs. Meanwhile, orcas chat with each other using pulsed calls or a variety of whistles — more like a lively, underwater group chat!
On the other hand, it is thought that baleen whales, including North Atlantic right whales and humpbacks tend to use fin slapping or breaching (breaking the water’s surface) as a navigational tool. Scientists think that humpback whales slap their tails to attract other individuals, and some scientists think that tail-slapping is also a way for them to communicate, wanting to join or leave a group of whales. And we cannot leave out the infamous humpback whale song. While both males and females can make sounds, only humpback males sing those oh too familiar songs. These sounds, which once were thought to be used only in mating, have now also been documented during feeding and migrations, leading to a hot debate from experts about what these songs actually mean. Whatever the reason, one thing’s for sure — humpback males never miss a chance to drop a mixtape.
WHEN THE OCEAN GETS TOO LOUD
Unfortunately, other sounds in the ocean impact these marine mammals’ communication — some of the loudest contributors being ships and seismic airgun blasting.
Vessel traffic has increased so much that many whales can no longer hear one another over the noise, leading to a much smaller communication range. Whales rely on sounds for most parts of their day-to-day lives. With the ship sounds, it’s like trying to yell over loud music at a party. In addition to communication, another study found that vessel presence led to reduced rates of feeding and slower dives while searching for food. This implies that the whales were either distracted, stressed, or had more difficulty hunting prey in the midst of increased vessel noise.
Seismic airgun blasting is performed in search of oil and gas, and involves releasing loud pressurized blasts of air through the ocean and into the seafloor. During seismic survey periods, studies found an 88% decrease in sightings of baleen whales, and a 53% decrease in sightings of toothed whales. This might mean that whales are disturbed by the sound and are more inclined to avoid areas with seismic blasting. If there was constant banging next to your home, would you stick around?
HOW TO HELP PROTECT THE OCEAN’S LOUDEST VOICES
Luckily, Oceana is working to protect these species from the harmful impacts of excessive manmade marine noises. And you can help too! To defend whales from the effects of seismic blasting, sign our petition to encourage lawmakers to stop offshore drilling. You can also sign up to become an Oceana wavemaker to learn more about how we can protect these species.
