PORTLAND, Maine — Researchers on Cape Cod, Mass., recently discovered the oldest known recordings of whale sound and believe it could help understand how the animals communicate.
The recording is the song of a humpback whale, a species of large whale known for its complex songs. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Mass., said it was recorded in March 1949 off Bermuda.
The recording is important because it documents whale song during a time when the oceans were quieter, scientists said.
It predates scientist Roger Payne’s discovery of whale song by nearly 20 years. Woods Hole scientists on a research vessel at the time were testing sonar systems and performing acoustic experiments along with the U.S. Office of Naval Research when they captured the sound.
The sounds were recorded with crude audio equipment, but they were preserved on a plastic disc as opposed to tape. That allowed it to stand the test of time.
More than 90 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises make sounds. Sound is critical to whale survival and important to how they socialize and communicate. Their sounds come in the form of clicks, whistles and calls.
Scientists who study whales say the sounds also allow the whales to find food, navigate, locate each other and understand their surroundings.
Some parts of the ocean are 10 times louder now than they were in the 1960s, scientists say.
Research from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla in the mid-2000s found that underwater ocean noise off Southern California had increased tenfold compared with the 1960s. Ocean noise and its effect on animal life has been the subject of scientific inquiry in the years since.
Scientists hope to understand how this change in loudness affects the way whales communicate.
The humpback whale is possibly the most accomplished vocalist in the ocean, and the songs come from a giant animal that can weigh more than 55,000 pounds. Over the years, humpback whale songs have been recorded for human listening, with many describing the songs as having a haunting, mournful quality.
“Songs of the Humpback Whale,” an album, published by CRM and Capitol Records in 1970, has sold more than 100,000 copies. Payne produced the album as the environmental movement was beginning to blossom. It’s the best-selling environment album of all time.
The record also helped spark a global movement to end the practice of commercial whale hunting.
Whittle writes for the Associated Press.
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