New discoveries about the mysterious language of whales

Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers for the first time know why blue whales on the deep ocean emit a sound like singing. They recorded this sound and gave new insights into the behavior of animals the size of a passenger jet.

By using suction pads on the whale's body, the researchers tracked them and discovered that when they were eating they let out a sound so that their peers could know where they were, and each group made one Different sounds.

These sounds played a relatively important role during the mating season, when the males emitted long, low-intensity sounds to let the children know that they were in the most energetic state. Children choose their partners based on their size and likely the sound emitted by the male. Larger males can take more breaths and the ability to produce longer signals.

The study was published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series journal (January 17, 2013).

Scientists are prepared to attach an electronic " B-probe " to the blue whale's head (Photo: LiveScience)

Scripps researchers also provided a finding related to the typical ' dialects ' of whales in different areas of the ocean. These discoveries will benefit conservation.

Scientists have used acoustic recording devices to map nine whale habitats on earth. They found that whales were not evenly distributed, such as a type 1 distribution group that lived in a narrow area of ​​the ocean close to the North American coast, while those of group 4 stretched a large road in the North. Pacific.

Researchers use spectral color lines to analyze call whale nuances (Photo: LiveScience)

That research has just been published in the recent issue of the Marine Mammal Research Management Journal.

Scientists say the discovery of ' dialect ' could help preserve the blue whale species that are shrinking alarmingly before the agreement to stop whaling is approved. Previous statistics estimated that between 2 and 3 thousand children survived, but according to scientist John Hildebrand of Scripps today that number is less than 1000.

He said that by listening to these animals, we can know where they breed and, more importantly, control and conserve these animals.

Anh Phuong