The first time I discovered the sound of a whale's gun shot

Scientists have discovered never before described vocalizations in humpback whales, revealing their complex communication behaviour.

Humpback whales are famous for their complex communication sound systems.

The team from the Greenpeace Laboratory at the UK's University of Exeter and South Africa's Stellenbosch University spent 11 days recording the sounds of humpback whales around the Vema Seamount subterranean mountain in the Atlantic Ocean, some distance from South Africa. hundreds of miles to the west, and discovered a whole new type of cry, according to research published in the journal JASA Express Letters on April 20.

Whale sounds fall into two categories: sustained, sustained calls called "songs" and short, "non-song" calls. In the more than 600 non-song calls recorded during the Vema Seamount expedition, there was a sort of hard-to-decipher conflict sound that sounded like gunfire.

"We still don't fully understand what this call means. It's amazing that it has been recorded for the first time in a humpback whale. It shows that there is still a lot to learn about this amazing animal. This is amazing," said Dr Kirsten Thompson from the University of Exeter, lead author of the study.

The calls are as short as the gunshots of a humpback whale. (Video: Greenpeace).

Most of the whale calls in Vema Seamount were detected at night for three consecutive days. In addition to the gunshot-like sound, the team also recorded a variety of loud cries, known as "whups," and social calls that resembled "grunts."

The whup is often used by humpback whales to locate each other, especially mother-infant pairs. In addition, they are also frequently seen on hunting trips, indicating that the Vema Seamount is an important feeding habitat.

"Our research confirms that whales visit the Vema Seamount to feed on their long ocean voyages. Subterranean mountains provide rich habitat for all migratory species. So We urgently need to protect the global ocean to ensure that these environments can continue to exist," emphasized Thompson.