How Whales Communicate

The decline of the dinosaurs brought the evolution of a new marine order know as Cetacea. Present day species of whales and dolphins began to emerge 10 million years ago. Of these 86 species that exist today, whales make up the majority of both the Odonotocetes and Mysticetes. These creatures are amongst the largest in the world and display an equally unique way of communicating with one another. Both baleen and toothed whales communicate utilizing sounds yet neither possess an external ear. Sounds are detected through a fatty structure that rests in between the middle ear and the mandible while the sounds given off to communicate vary between species, or in an orca's case, between pods. Mysticetes do not contain any vocal cords but instead have vocal folds that they communicate with and generate some of the most resounding biological sounds known to man. These series of clicks and moans come together as a whale song and is used to communicate anything from possible threats to identification of another whale to mating calls. Odonotocetes communicate a little differently by emitting high-pitched sounds and echoes to navigate themselves and determine the location of objects. Echolocation is imparative and provides a three dimensional view of the world below where only 1% of sunlight travels to 100 meters in depth. Migratory whales communicate through these methods across vast distances like 4,500 kilometers and continue to produce the same sounds between each other. Even when the slight changes between clans occur seasonally, the rest of the members in other breeding grounds follow suit. In 1996, when two individual Humpback whales ventured from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific ocean with their own unique song it was onl...

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...pollution. Natural causes include the avoidance of predators or weather conditions as well as the opportunity to chase prey or the unfortunate sickness of one whale in the pod. Pilot whales are often the victims of a mass stranding for a number of reasons. They are very social creatures, so if one member of the pod becomes sick and ventures ashore, the other will follow. This can be seen when recently, in Florida, approximately 50 pilot whales were beached, starting at a low number and steadily increasing with the screeches of communication between one another ( ). It is natural for one whale in a pod of pilot whale to follow another onto shore, being such gregarious creatures; however, the fact that they are deep sea whales emerging from great depths to beach themselves, is not a common feat. yet scientists are finding that it does in fact play a major role.