Only male fin whales sing loud songs

The low-frequency vocalizations of fin and blue whales are the most powerful and ubiquitous biological sounds in the ocean. Here we combine acoustic localization and molecular techniques to show that, in fin whales, only males produce these vocalizations. This finding indicates that they may functio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature (London) Vol. 417; no. 6891; p. 809
Main Authors Croll, Donald A, Clark, Christopher W, Acevedo, Alejandro, Tershy, Bernie, Flores, Sergio, Gedamke, Jason, Urban, Jorge
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 20.06.2002
Subjects
Animals
Balaenoptera physalus
Ecosystem
Female
Humans
Male
Marine
Sex Characteristics
Sex Ratio
Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
Whales - physiology
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Summary:The low-frequency vocalizations of fin and blue whales are the most powerful and ubiquitous biological sounds in the ocean. Here we combine acoustic localization and molecular techniques to show that, in fin whales, only males produce these vocalizations. This finding indicates that they may function as male breeding displays, and will help to focus concern on the impact of human-generated low-frequency sounds on recovering whale populations.
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ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/417809a