Humpback Whale Songs Show Humans Not the Only Species Capable of Cultural Transmission

Humpback whales can learn complex songs from humpbacks in other regions. divedog/Adobe Stock

A study led by the University of Queensland (UQ) has found that humpback whales can learn complex songs from whales in other regions.

Led by Dr. Jenny Allen at UQ’s School of Veterinary Science, researchers discovered that New Caledonian humpback whales were able to learn songs from their Australian east coast counterparts with great accuracy.

“This really indicates a level of ‘cultural transmission’ beyond any observed non-human species,” she said in a UQ release on Friday.

The study observed male humpback whale song patterns from each region between 2009 and 2015, with a focus on how culture is transmitted between the two populations.

Both the number of sounds the whales made and the length of the sound patterns were taken into account to determine the level of complexity.

Dr. Jenny Allen of the University of Queensland out in the field. Image supplied by the University of Queensland

“By listening to the Australian humpback population, we were able to see if the songs changed in any way when sung by the New Caledonian whales,” Allen said.

Allen told The Epoch Times that the whales were able to learn the songs in their entirety, without changing anything or leaving anything out, and on the occasions when something was omitted, it was a whole chunk.

“Whale songs are generally made up of four to seven chunks, and they would either learn these directly or remove a chunk and substitute their own in its place,” she said.

Allen also noted that each year they observed the whales, they sang a different song, confirming that humpback whales can learn a complete song pattern from another population, no matter how difficult or complex.

The study findings indicate that whales are learning songs from each other on shared migration routes like New Zealand or feeding grounds such as Antarctica.

A humpback whale jumps out of the water in the western Antarctic peninsula on March 05, 2016. EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP via Getty Images

“It’s rare for this degree of cultural exchange to be documented on such a large scale in a non-human species,” Allen said.

Allen told The Epoch Times only male humpbacks sing these songs, and researchers are pretty confident the songs are related to reproduction.

“We think the songs are to either demonstrate the male is a formidable opponent or an ideal mate,” she said. “It may be more of an embellishment to show off their good singing.”

Better Understanding Leads to Better Conservation

Although humpback whales are no longer on the endangered species list, Allen stressed their populations still need to be monitored and carefully managed, a task potentially aided by these findings.

“Having an in-depth understanding of a species is known to greatly improve the efficacy of conservation and management methods,” she said.

“We now have a more holistic picture of the behaviours, movements and interactions of different humpback whale populations, including how they transmit culture.”

She went on to say that this knowledge better equips humans to protect whales against the many threats they face as the planet continues to change.

Whaling throughout the 1900s brought the humpback close to extinction, but following a ban on commercial whaling, the species has made a strong comeback, with populations in some areas reaching 93 percent of their pre-hunting numbers, Marine-Mammals.info reported.

However, as Allen pointed out, the report states that humpbacks still face threats such as those brought about by fishing activities and shipping, and some conservationists are concerned that the delisting happened too soon.

The UQ research was conducted in collaboration with Opération Cétacés from New Caledonia and is published in Scientific Reports.