#Whales can’t hit notes like Taylor Swift or Beyonce. But they can #sing underwater! #Scientists now think they understand how it all works. Michael Marillier explains.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Okay, pinch your nose, close your mouth and try to hum.
00:03 (humming)
00:05 Impossible, right?
00:07 But whales can do it.
00:09 (whale singing)
00:10 Scientists never understood why until now.
00:14 Baleen whales can produce sounds
00:16 almost like singing while holding their breath.
00:19 (whale singing)
00:22 New research suggests their vocal cords
00:24 rub against a special fatty cushion.
00:28 This means they can drop some beats
00:30 without even breathing.
00:31 (whale singing)
00:33 But here's the thing, most ships make a lot of noise,
00:38 usually between frequencies of 30 and 300 hertz.
00:43 These whales can't sing above 300 hertz,
00:46 so they have to compete with ships.
00:49 That's a problem because singing is a big part of their lives.
00:54 They sometimes use it to find each other.
00:56 It's also a way of communicating with their babies.
01:00 All this means we have to find ways to reduce ocean noise.
01:05 That could mean less ships in certain areas
01:08 or using ships which are quieter.
01:11 (whale singing)
01:14 (whale singing)
01:18 Either way, the whales deserve to sing.
01:22 (whale singing)