Singing Across Oceans
If you missed the last post, “No Place to Hide from Climate,” here it is.
You’re at the Mother E newsletter— telling the stories about the connections between us and other species in a changing world.
There’s probably a perfect poem
Stringing along out there
Lost on the acoustic paths of deep oceans
Waiting for just the right voice to show up.
Scott Mercer
WHEN MY SON WAS YOUNG he loved to put headphones on, curl up in a chair and listen to a record of songs of humpback whales. His face would take on a calm, dreamy look as he became transfixed by the eerie songs.
Why do whales fascinate us so? Maybe it’s because they include the largest creatures living on earth now. The blue whale grows up to 110 feet long and can weigh 80 tons, twice the size of a prehistoric T Rex dinosaur. In sheer size, this gentle giant is astonishing.
But size alone can’t explain the excitement that whales generate across the world. We’re thrilled at whale sightings, admire the stamina of their multi-thousand-mile migrations, and marvel at their family bonds and communication. One grieving orca mother carried her deceased calf for 16 days.
Cooperating for a better outcome
Whales are intelligent beings who have a social structure and some even live in family systems. Some species cooperate for finding food and even assist other marine creatures.
The orcas (also called killer whales) of the Northern Pacific live and hunt in matriarchal social pods made up of several generations. They have figured out that staying together and cooperatively hunting is better for all, and they are master hunters of the oceans. Some orcas have developed a taste for the most nutritious part of sharks, the liver, and they know how to bite it out of a living shark with a precision that a surgeon would admire.
Orca knowledge appears to be passed down from the matriarchal elders in this “tribe”, which makes the grandmother orcas especially crucial to the survival of the pod. She remembers where food was found in the decades earlier, what places and situations to avoid and she brings diverse hunting strategies. Pods with older matriarchs likely have more chance of survival than those without.
Cooperative and creative hunting has also been seen in groups of humpback whales. They hunt schools of small fish by tightly coordinated maneuvers, sound, and blowing out a “net” of bubbles that keep the small fish contained. The humpbacks then push the fish towards the surface to catch them. The intelligence, creativity, and group coordination exhibited is remarkable. It’s a choreographed ballet of whale hunting. Watch this fascinating BBC video showing whales bubble net hunting.
One of the lessons I learn from whales is the value of cooperation. Without the ongoing cooperative hunting some whale species do, they would not be eating nearly as well. This could be a lesson for our future, as climate disruption influences more and more food crops. How can we link up with local farmers and support them, or grow community gardens and share food resources better?
In these times of fractured politics, how can we humans cooperate more in all ways? In nature, species that cooperate survive longer.
Whale altruism?
In Monterey Bay and Carmel Bay of California, there have been observations of humpback whales coming to the rescue of gray whale mother and calf pairs being attacked by killer whales. These battles can be many hours long and fierce, with humpbacks bellowing and using all their size advantages to interfere with the killer whale attacks. Humpbacks have also been observed defending seals, sea lions, dolphins, and other creatures from killer whale hunting efforts. This video summarizes this seemingly altruistic behavior.
Sending a song a thousand miles
Scientists have monitored whale sounds, which consist of everything from hunting barks and snorts to the more complex multi-tonal song of the male humpback whale. These songs include sliding moans, bellows, creaks, and cries underwater. Hear a whale song recorded by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California.
Several studies of humpback whale songs show that they learn parts of songs from groups in different ocean basins of the world, much as people learn verses of songs. Also, the songs evolve and change over time, with whales in an area sharing similar verses. Researchers have pointed out that this is an example of animal culture.
The range of carry for these songs is astonishing. Sound travels faster underwater than in the air above. Cornell University’s Bioacoustics Research Program has tracked whale songs that can reach a thousand miles or more in ideal conditions. Songs may be passed along by different wintering whale populations to reach between continents. Whales can truly sing across oceans.
Navigating by sound
Whales have highly advanced abilities to navigate in dark ocean waters, using sounds such as echolocation, calls, or singing. They can travel thousands of miles on a straight course that may only vary by less than one degree. Dr. Christopher Clark, a Cornell University scientist and acoustics expert, did acoustical studies on the travels of whales.
“Whales will aim directly at a seamount that is 300 miles away, then once they reach it, change course and head to a new feature. It is as if they are slaloming from one geographic feature to the next. They must have acoustic memories analogous to our visual memories.”
Whale-inspired devotion
Northern California’s Mendocino County has two expert whale observers, Scott Mercer and his wife “Tree” (Teresa shortened), who run Mendonoma Whale and Seal Study. They can be found most days of the year at various areas of the Mendocino coast, looking out to sea and raising binoculars whenever possible whale activity occurs. They go out for 3-4 hours at a time on sightings, even in foggy, windy, or light rain conditions.
I happened upon them while out for a coastal walk. Their devotion is palpable. Scott is a Marine Biologist and whale expert who has taught college classes and previously ran whale-sighting tours off New England. He now advocates for whales on his Facebook Channel and gives educational talks. He and his wife conduct an important gray whale migration census every year. Scott told our local community the following in January 2021.
“There is evidence that, due to climate change, and the loss of ice in their Arctic feeding grounds, causing a collapse in centuries-old feeding ecosystems, the whales are traveling further and diving deeper to find food. This creates a later departure from the Arctic and all too often, malnourished whales.”
Something is broken when human impacts upon the earth are widespread and affect all creatures, great and small.
How do whales help the earth?
What is the special role of whales in our oceans? One theory is that, with their far migrations, they move ocean resources long distances and even from one hemisphere to the other. As a National Geographic article puts it, “They are key players in the global cycling of carbon and nutrients.”
Whale poop fertilizes the oceans. As whales migrate around the oceans, they consume matter in deep, nutrient-rich waters and then some of their whale feces gets pumped out in nutrient-poor waters, attracting fish and stimulating more plant growth. Where there are whales, plankton and key microorganisms flourish. This creates a foundation for the ocean food chain. Whales’ very existence makes the ocean a friendlier environment for other life forms.
The ultimate carbon recyclers
Ever heard of carbon farming? It’s an agricultural method aimed at soaking up the excess carbon dioxide in the air. The plants breathe in or photosynthesize carbon dioxide and return it to the soil or to their plant body, which may later get tilled into the soil. It’s an old-yet-new way of creating a sustainable system.
Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere cause global heating and other climate disruptions. So, getting rid of that excess carbon dioxide is a good thing.
A sort of carbon farming also happens with whales. All living things, plant and animal, are made partly of carbon. As whales consume large amounts of living things, they take food (carbon-based) out of the seas and store it in their bodies. Blue whales consume 2-3 tons daily of mostly krill, a small crustacean, to keep their large bulk fed. Since whales can live 30-90 years, they store that carbon for a long time. One estimate says a single whale can accumulate up to 36 US tons of CO2 over a lifetime. That’s 36 fewer tons of CO2 in our air causing global heating.
Even the whale’s death can be a boon for other ocean critters. Nature recycles automatically. When a whale dies at sea and its carcass falls to a depth of 1000 meters (3,300 feet) or greater, it’s called a “whale fall.” Watch this animated version. As their enormous bodies sink, they can feed hundreds of species.
Bones, the last part to be consumed, are broken down by seafloor creatures over a long period of time. Nothing goes to waste in nature. A whale fall can be a windfall of nutrients and shelter for deep-sea organisms for 50 years or longer. The carbon remaining can be turned into marine floor sediment, getting locked away for hundreds of years.
Fighting climate disruption by protecting whales
This may not be what you expected. But we now know that whales aren’t just a fun occasional sighting, like seeing a double rainbow. They are a crucial part of the earth’s oceans, and their presence supports a large number of marine organisms. Where there are more whales, there are more plankton, small creatures, and marine life. Where there are fewer whales, the ocean is likely to be missing the diversity of life and look more like a liquid desert.
How can we create a future world where the number of whales swimming around as eco-ambassadors is doubled or tripled? We know that whales attract and support marine life on many levels. How can we bring more whales back to earth at a time when we really need them?
This is both a simple and complex question. Simple in knowing what we need to do, but complex in the size of the problem.
Oceans have been absorbing the excess CO2 we humans create, so acidification of the oceans is a growing threat to sea life. Lowering the CO2 levels in our air will help oceans.
To encourage whale life (and more of all ocean life), we also need to have cleaner oceans, free of toxic spills, oil leaks, trash, industrial sound pollution, marine collisions with ships, and fishing debris. The ocean is somebody’s home—a home for trillions of beings of all sizes.
One of the largest causes of death for whales is fishing entanglement of various kinds. My coastal newspaper recently reported a sighting of a humpback whale dragging crab fishing lines around one fin, making it hard to swim and hunt for food.
I saw estimates that placed these whale, dolphin, and porpoise entanglements at 300,000 per year. That’s over a quarter of a million whales and other marine mammals dying or getting tangled every year due to fishing “bycatch.” Ending that problem alone would be a massive help to the whales of the world.
It’s time to honor the home environment of whales and all other creatures with whom we share this earth. Their fate is bound up with ours in intricate ways most of us are not even aware of yet. We ignore the health of ocean ecosystems at our peril.
We need to create conditions conducive to supporting life in Earth’s oceans. Future generations should be able to stand on the edge of a continent, look out to sea and feel a tingle of thrill when they see a white whale spout or glimpse a dark back arching through the swells.
And those whale songs being sung across oceans? We don’t speak their language, so the message remains a beautiful mystery.
Thanks to Scott and Tree Mercer for reviewing my whale facts, and for being faithful and deep observers of marine life on the Mendocino County, CA. coast.
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Robin A.
Love whales? Give these organizations helping the ocean and whales your support:
Noyo Center for Marine Science