The song of the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae in the West Indies

Winn, Howard E.; Winn, L. K.

doi:10.1007/bf00395631

Cited by 224 publications

(289 citation statements)

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“…Several different themes, usually sung in a particular order, make up a song type. Further complexity arises because of the constant changing of song types through the gradual evolution, replacement or addition of units, phrases and themes, with changes quickly adopted across all members of a population (Winn and Winn, 1978;Payne and Payne, 1985;Noad et al, 2000). The changes to the song are generally undertaken without loss of the basic hierarchical structure that governs how different calls or units are combined to make songs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The changes to the song are generally undertaken without loss of the basic hierarchical structure that governs how different calls or units are combined to make songs. As humpback whale song displays change rapidly over time but the social context in which song is used remains the same (i.e., as a male breeding display, Payne and McVay, 1971;Winn and Winn, 1978;Tyack, 1981), the actual information conveyed in the song is thought to be in the complexity and novelty of the changing display rather than in individual units that make up the song (Tyack, 1981). Therefore the units within a song may convey little semantic meaning (Tyack, 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non-song social call bouts of migrating humpback whales

Rekdahl¹,

Dunlop²,

Goldizen³

et al. 2015

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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The use of stereotyped calls within structured bouts has been described for a number of species and may increase the information potential of call repertoires. Humpback whales produce a repertoire of social calls, although little is known about the complexity or function of these calls. In this study, digital acoustic tag recordings were used to investigate social call use within bouts, the use of bouts across different social contexts, and whether particular call type combinations were favored. Call order within bouts was investigated using call transition frequencies and information theory techniques. Call bouts were defined through analysis of inter-call intervals, as any calls within 3.9 s of each other. Bouts were produced significantly more when new whales joined a group compared to groups that did not change membership, and in groups containing multiple adults escorting a female and calf compared to adult only groups. Although social calls tended to be produced in bouts, there were few repeated bout types. However, the order in which most call types were produced within bouts was non-random and dependent on the preceding call type. These bouts appear to be at least partially governed by rules for how individual components are combined.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-song social call bouts of migrating humpback whales

Rekdahl¹,

Dunlop²,

Goldizen³

et al. 2015

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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“…These songs represent male acoustic displays that are related (directly or indirectly) to mating. Two major hypotheses have been proposed for the function of song in humpback whales: (i) that it serves primarily to attract females (Winn & Winn 1978;Tyack 1981); and (ii) that it establishes dominance rankings among males (Darling & Bérubé 2001). Song is clearly an important element of the humpback's mating system, which has been described as polygynous/promiscuous with some similarity to a lek (Mobley & Herman 1985;Clapham 1996Clapham , 2000.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic monitoring on a humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) feeding ground shows continual singing into late spring

Clark

Clapham

2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

148

138

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Singing by males is a major feature of the mating system of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski). Although a few songs have been opportunistically recorded on the whales' high-latitude feeding grounds, singing in these regions was thought to be only sporadic. We report results from the first continuous acoustic monitoring of a humpback whale feeding ground (off Cape Cod, MA, USA) in spring. Using autonomous sea-floor recording systems, we found singing on a daily basis over the entire 25 day monitoring period, from 14 May to 7 June 2000. For much of the period, song was recorded 24 h per day. These results, combined with evidence for aseasonal conceptions in whaling catch data, suggest that the humpback whale breeding season should no longer be considered as confined to lower-latitude regions in winter. Rather, we suggest breeding extends geographically and temporally onto feeding grounds into at least spring and early summer. Singing at these times represents either low-cost opportunistic advertising by (perhaps relatively few) males to court females that failed to conceive during the winter, and/or possibly an intrasexual display.

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“…Other interesting aspect of the reproductive behavior of humpback whales is the production of songs. Possible functions for songs include sexual advertisement (Payne and Mc Vey, 1971;Winn and Winn, 1978;Tyack, 1981), ovulation synchronization (Baker and Herman, 1984), spacing mechanisms (Winn and Winn, 1978;Frankel et al, 1995) and social ordering (Au et al 2000;Darling and Bérubé, 2001;Craig et al, 2002). Although songs and other phonation sounds may travel further away and contain more information than percussion sounds, the later might be easily located by other whales nearby and may convey information related to local social activities that could require an immediate response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the level of surface activity in humpback whales during the breeding season

Félix¹

2004

Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Mamm.

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-Between 1991 and, the reproductive behavior of the humpback whale was studied during the breeding season off the coast of Ecuador, South America (02°S, 81°W). During the sighting period the level of surface activity exhibited by the whales was assessed according to the type of display performed and its frequency. Five displays that produce percussion sounds and used likely for communication were considered: breaching, head-lapping, tail-slapping, flipper-slapping and tail slashing. A total of 289 selected sightings were included in one of four levels according to a scale of intensity designed for the purpose. To determine what social conditions increased or reduced the activity, groups were organized according to their size and age-class composition. Singletons and groups of three and four whales showed a significantly higher surface activity than pairs or larger than four for the highest intensity level (P<0.05). Differences were also found when age-classes were compared, with subadults showing significantly higher surface activity than other classes (P<0.01). Groups that increased members showed a significant difference respect to decreasing groups at the lowest level of intensity of the scale (P<0.05). Competitive groups showed a significant higher occurrence at intensity level 2 than other groups (P<0.05). No relationship was found between whale speed and surface activity. The possible influence of environment factors such as day hour, sea state, moon phase and "El Niño", was also assessed; none of which showed a clear trend to affect the intensity of whale surface activity. A discussion about the implications of these findings is provided as well as interpretations of possible meanings of some displays under different social contexts. This analysis indicates that social aspects rather than environment factors drive the surface activity of the humpback whales during the breeding season.Resumen -Entre 1992 y 2002, se estudió el comportamiento de las ballenas jorobadas durante su temporada de reproducción en la costa de Ecuador, Sudamérica (02°S,81°W). Para ello se analizó la actividad de superficie exhibida por las ballenas de acuerdo al tipo de pautas mostradas y su frecuencia. Cinco pautas que producen sonidos de percusión y que son utilizadas probablemente como una forma de comunicación fueron evaluadas: salto de espaldas, salto de vientre, golpe de cola, golpe de aleta pectoral y latigazos con la cola. Un total de 289 avistamientos fueron usados en el análisis. Con el afán de determinar que condiciones sociales fueron causantes del incremento o la ausencia de la actividad de superficie, los grupos fueron organizados de acuerdo al tamaño del grupo y al tipo de individuos presentes. Los individuos solitarios así como los grupos formados por tres y cuatro ballenas mostraron un nivel de actividad de superficie significativamente más alto (P<0.05). Diferencias significativas también fueron encontradas cuando se comparó los grupos por clases de edades, siendo los subadultos quienes mostraron el mayor ...

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The song of the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae in the West Indies

Cited by 224 publications

References 5 publications

Non-song social call bouts of migrating humpback whales

Non-song social call bouts of migrating humpback whales

Acoustic monitoring on a humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) feeding ground shows continual singing into late spring

Assessment of the level of surface activity in humpback whales during the breeding season

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