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The Nature of Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song
"... The nature of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song has long interested both scientists and the general public. Research strongly indicates that humpback whale song is an important component in the social behaviour of breeding humpback whales, with proposals that the song has an intra-and/or ..."
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The nature of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song has long interested both scientists and the general public. Research strongly indicates that humpback whale song is an important component in the social behaviour of breeding humpback whales, with proposals that the song has an intra-and/or inter-sexual selection component. Some scientists, how-ever, have alternate hypotheses, such as song being a means of sonar for detecting females. Song is not the only factor in-volved in humpback whale breeding behaviour, as groups of males follow and may physically compete for females. Hence, the exact nature of humpback whale song and its relation to their breeding behaviour is unclear. Why does whale song con-tinuously change throughout the breeding season, and why do new songs spread so quickly throughout a population? In many respects, the nature of humpback whale song may resemble and parallel bird song. For example, many bird species that display innovation in the male’s song also have increased re-productive fitness, and a similar situation may occur in male humpback whales. To explain why such innovation may be selected for in humpback whales, this paper postulates that sexual selection in humpback whales may have both a physical and cognitive fitness component. “No one knew why humpbacks sang. Nate had been listening to them, observing them, photographing them, and poking them with sticks for twenty-five years, and still he had no idea why, exactly, they sang”. From Christopher Moore. Fluke. Or I know why the winged whale sings. Harper Collins. 2004.
Humpback Whale Song or Humpback Whale Sonar? A Reply to Au et al.
"... Abstract—Au and colleagues ’ arguments against the hypothesis that humpback whale songs function as long-range sonar are based on questionable assumptions rather than on empirical data. Like other echolocating mammals (e.g., bats), singing humpback whales: 1) localize targets in the absence of visua ..."
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Abstract—Au and colleagues ’ arguments against the hypothesis that humpback whale songs function as long-range sonar are based on questionable assumptions rather than on empirical data. Like other echolocating mammals (e.g., bats), singing humpback whales: 1) localize targets in the absence of visual information; 2) possess a highly innervated peripheral auditory system; and 3) modulate the temporal and spectral features of their sounds based on environmental conditions. The sonar equation is inadequate for determining whether humpback whale songs generate detectable echoes from other whales because it does not account for temporal variables that can strongly affect the detectability of echoes. In particular, the sonar equation ignores the fact that much of the noise encountered by singing humpback whales is spectrally and temporally predictable, and that audition in mammals is a dynamic and plastic process. Experiments are needed to test the hypothesis that singing humpback whales listen for and respond to echoes generated by their songs. Index Terms—Baleen whale, cetacean, environmentally-adaptive sonar, low-frequency sonar, mysticete.
Recurring patterns in the songs of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)
"... This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or sel ..."
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This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit:
Automatic prosodic clustering of humpback whales song
"... Abstract- We automatically segmented a humpback whale song using the Roger Payne's principle of sound unit and we patterned and automatically classified intonations of sound units thanks to an unsupervised algorithm to describe recurrent patterns. We determined 6 different patterns of intonatio ..."
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Abstract- We automatically segmented a humpback whale song using the Roger Payne's principle of sound unit and we patterned and automatically classified intonations of sound units thanks to an unsupervised algorithm to describe recurrent patterns. We determined 6 different patterns of intonation. Some different sound units present the same pattern of intonation and one sound unit can be submitted to different patterns of intonation. Intonation could be related to information's transmission between humpback whales while they are singing. I.
tomatic prosodic clustering of humpback whales song. 6p. 2008. <hal-00315949>
, 2008
"... HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte p ..."
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HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et a ̀ la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Automatic prosodic clustering of humpback whales song
