487 



Possible Significance of the Song 



Schevill (2) notes: "The sonorous 

 moans and screams associated with the 

 migrations of Megaptera past Bermuda 

 and Hawaii may be an audible mani- 

 festation of more fundamental vernal 

 urges, for in New England waters and 

 at other seasons we do not hear any- 

 thing nearly so spectacular from this 

 species." The implication here is that 

 courtship is seasonal. However, there is 

 good evidence, from measurements of 

 embryos collected by whalers, that, 

 even though most successful humpback 

 matings occur during two peak seasons 

 each year, some matings do occur 

 throughout the year (14). Mating, of 

 course, does not always immediately 

 succeed courtship in all species. Even 

 if some humpback pairs male year- 

 round, it is quite likely that courtship 

 activities leading to pair formation are 

 seasonal. In this case, the songs may 

 be related to pair formation. 



The playful behavior of humpbacks 

 near Bermuda in April and May has 

 suggested to some observers that they 

 are courting. The whales slam their 

 tails on the surface of the water (lob- 

 tailing), wave and slap their fins on 

 the water (finning), and frequently 

 and repeatedly jump (breaching) (Fig. 

 11). However, since these activities 

 are frequently observed at other lati- 

 tudes and at other times of year (S, 

 p. 288; 15), they do not seem to be 

 particularly linked with singing. If we 

 wish to consider such antics, as weM 

 as songs, part of courtship, then we 

 might conclude that the songs are in- 

 volved with seasonal pair formation, 

 and the acrobatics with year-round 

 mating. Of course, if pair formation 

 occurs year-round, such theories have 

 no meaning. 



Winn (16) has heard and recorded 

 humpback songs near Puerto Rico in 

 February, so the songs are apparently 



sung for at least 3 to 4 months. Thus, 

 if songs are part of pair formation, we 

 would expect it to be a lengthy process 

 lasting from midwinter until well into 

 spring. 



In the North Atlantic, this time pe- 

 riod (February to May) also corre- 

 sponds to northward migration. Thus, 

 one might imagine that the songs serve 

 as a sort of flock call to ho!d a loose 

 cluster of individuals together during 

 their long migration. Until there is 

 further evidence, we can only guess 

 what function this remarkable series 

 of vocalizations serves. 



Summaiy 



1) Himipback whales (Megaptera 

 novaeangliae) produce a series of 

 beautiful and varied sounds for a pe- 

 riod of 7 to 30 minutes and then repeat 

 the same series with considerable pre- 

 cision. We call such a performance 

 "singing" and each repeated series of 

 sounds a "song." 



2) All prolonged sound patterns 

 (recorded so far) of this species are 

 in song form, and each individual ad- 

 heres to its own song type. 



3) There seem to be several song 

 types around which whales construct 

 their songs, but individual variations 

 are pronounced (there is only a very 

 rough species-specific song pattern). 



4) Songs are repeated without any 

 obvious pause between them; thus song 

 sessions may continue for several 

 hours. 



5) The sequence of themes in suc- 

 cessive songs by the same individual 

 is the same. Although the number of 

 phrases per theme varies, no theme is 

 ever completely omitted in our sample. 



6) Loud sounds in the ocean, for 

 example dynamite blasts, do not seem 

 to affect the whale's songs. 



7) The sex of the performer of any 



of the songs we have studied is im- 

 known. 



8) The function of the songs is un- 

 known. 



RcfeiCDces aad Notes 



1. H. L. Aldrich. Arctic Alaska and Siberia 

 (Ratid McNally, Chicago. 1889). p. 35: C. 

 Nordhoff. /n Yankee Windiammers (Oodd, 

 Mead, New York, 1940). 



2. For a review of this area see W. E. Schevill, 

 in Marine Bio-aeoustics, W. N. Tavolga, Ed. 

 (Pcreamod. Oxford, 1964). pp. 307-316. 



3. B. Patterson and G. R. Hamilton, in ibid., pp 

 125-145. 



4. W. E. Schevill, W. A. Watkins, R. H. Baclcus, 

 in ibid., pp. 147-152 



5. N. A. Mackintosh. The Slocki o/ Whales 

 (Heighway, London, 1965). pp. 119. 201. 



6. C. L*venson. Informal Report No. 69-S4 

 (Naval Oceanographic Office. 1969). 



7. O. W. Schreiber. J. Acousl. Soc. Am. 14, 

 116 (1952). 



8. A. G. Tomilin. Mammals o/ the V.SS.R. tmd 

 Adjacent Countries. Volume IX. Cetacea, 

 O Ronen. Transl. (Israel Program for Scientific 

 Translations. Jenisalem. 1967), p. 270. 



9. W. E. Schevill and W. A. Watkins, Whale 

 and Porpoise Voices (a phonograph record 

 accompanied by a booklet) (Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution, Wtxxis Hole. Mas- 

 sachusetts. 1962). 



10. R. Payne and K. Payne, in preparation. 



11. W. B. Broughton. in Acoustic Behavior of 

 Animals. R. G. Busnel. Ed. (Elsevier, London, 

 1963). pp. 824-910. 



12. W. A. Watkins. in Marine Bio~acousllcs, 

 W. N. Tavolga. Ed. (Pergamon, Oxford, 

 1967). pp. 15-43. 



13. W. C. Cummings and L. A, Philippi. Pub- 

 lication No. NUC TP 196 (Naval Undersea 

 Research and Development Center. 1970). 



14. Tomilin (8. p. 280) bases his claim (that mating 

 occurs year-round) on 68 humpback fetuses 

 collected during whaling operations in the 

 North Pacific. By extrapolating from embryo 

 lengths, be calculated conception dates and, 

 thus, the number of htimpbacks conceived in 

 each month; January. 1; February. 9; 

 March. 12; April. 14: May, 4; June, 3; 

 July. 1; August. 1; September. 12: October. 8; 

 November. 3; and December. 0. Although 

 two periods of increased mating activity ar< 

 apparent, they are not sharply defined. Vet, 

 even from such a small sample, we see thai 

 successful matings have occurred in II out 

 of 12 months. 



15. W. E. Schevill and R. H. Backus. J. Mam- 

 malogy 41, 279 (1960): R. G. Van Ceider, 

 Amer. Mus. Noyilales 1992 (I960), pp. 1-27; 

 anecdotal observations of many authors. 



16. H. Winn, personal communication. 



17. Research was supported, in part, by NSF 

 grant GB 5564 and by grants from the New 

 York Zoological Society. We thank M. Kon- 

 ishi. P. Matter, and F. Nottebohm for letting 

 us use their sound analysis equipment and K. 

 Payne and E. D'Arms for helping us with the 

 spcctrography. We are particularly grateful to 

 Frank Watlmgton of the Palisades Sofar Sta- 

 tion. Sl David's. Bermuda, for so generotisly 

 making tape recordings available to us. 



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