Whales Have Viral Music, Too!

What do humpback whales have in common with Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Prince, Usher, and Harry Styles? Well all of these musicians—whales included—have had viral hits that have made their way around the globe. Yes, you read that correctly, whales have viral hits just like we do. 

So, what does this mean for how we understand the complexity of humpback whale culture? How might it force us to see ourselves as not so different from our fellow creatures here on Earth?

The Songs That Saved the Whales

For many people, the song of the humpback whale is a ubiquitous feature of these beautiful creatures: something we’ve known about since we were young thanks to Dory’s impressions in Finding Nemo or the occasional PBS program.But while today whale song seems like something we’ve always known about, few realize that our knowledge of this music from under the sea was discovered just 55 years ago in 1967. 

The story begins in the 1950s on a top secret submarine listening station in Bermuda during the height of the Cold War. There, US Navy engineer Frank Watlington, heard something he didn’t expect. Not an enemy ship or intercepted communications, but an eerie call; a strange sound coming from the depths of the ocean. Knowing that humpback whales wintered in the waters off the coast of Bermuda, Frank suspected them of making the otherworldly sounds he was hearing. ¹

Despite being enchanted by whale song, Watlington didn’t share his findings just yet, fearing that this knowledge could be used to aid commercial whaling—which was still legal at the time and was forcing many species of whale to the brink of extinction.

In 1967, Watlington sought out and met with bioacoustician Roger Payne and his colleagues Katy Payne and Scott McVay to study the Bermuda humpback’s vocalizations. Payne and his colleagues realized that they weren’t just hearing random sounds, but rather vocalizations that were in fixed, rhythmic pattern—songs. ²

Inspired by the songs they had discovered, Dr. Payne produced an album of whale songs using their recordings that sold millions of copies and ultimately going multi-platinum. That’s right, just like the occasional superstar, whales have gone platinum, too! 

That album of whale songs became a catalyst for the global movement for whale conservation. Hearing these songs helped to connect the average person to the plight of whales and galvanized public outcry against commercial whaling. Eventually, this led to the 1982 global moratorium on commercial whaling. So, without this ground-breaking discovery, we may not have had the whale populations to study today. ³

As humpback whale populations around the globe have continued to recover from the impact of whaling in the years since, scientists have been avidly taking recordings of their vocalizations to better understand the social significance of these sounds. The exact reason they sing is still being debated. But because only male humpbacks sing, it’s believed that these songs may be a form of courtship. ⁴

Humpback whales’ songs last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes and are composed of a series of sounds that repeat in measurable patterns with all the males in a given regional population singing the same song. Scientists have been able to break down these songs into “themes” consisting of  repeated “phrases” that can be mapped and traced. ⁵

One of Dr. Payne’s colleagues, Dr. Iain Kerr, joined us on the Conspiracy of Goodness Podcast to elaborate on this great work. You can listen to the full episode here:

Humpback Viral Hits

This would all be interesting enough, but scientists have found that there’s even more going on in the world of whale song. Like a viral song making its way around the globe, humpback whales are picking up new songs from adjacent populations spreading them all the way from the west coast of Australia to the waters of Polynesia, and further, to the coast of Ecuador. ⁶ These new songs aren’t just sung here and there, no, they cause complete cultural revolutions, with new hits coming in and usurping existing songs. It seems that like us, humpback whales love novelty and are willing to readily embrace a new hit as it sweeps through. The same way singers from Elvis to Harry Styles have taken over cultural sound-waves around the globe, so too do the humpbacks’ viral hits. 

This eastward movement of culture in the South Pacific ocean is the first documented spread of repeated cultural change happening across multiple populations at an enormous geographic scale—we’re talking nearly halfway across the world. And this isn’t happening over decades. It’s actually happening relatively quickly. The study that brought this discovery to the forefront by Dr. Ellen Garland looked at recordings taken over the course of 11 years, and during that time she found there were 8 different song types that had eastward virality, with 4 of those songs making their way over 6000 kilometers (almost 4,000 miles) from Eastern Australia to French Polynesia. ⁷

Scientists have yet to see this kind of rapid cultural change happen at such a scale, rate, and repetition in any species beyond humans. 

For more on this remarkable discovery, here’s Dr. Garland speaking with The Royal Society about her findings. (Don’t miss out on this video. The graphics give you an incredible visual on how these cultural waves make their way around the world.)

If you’re a science lover you must go check out The Royal Society YouTube channel. There, you’ll find interviews, animations, and talks from some of the world’s leading scientists. Their videos are fascinating, approachable, and will have you looking at the world with fresh, wonder-filled eyes.

Culture Isn’t Just for Humans

From elaborate dancing in birds and spiders, courtship rituals in bobcats and snapping turtles, to sexy melodies from frogs and whales, the animal world—us included—is full of ways to impress potential mates and, yes, posture against rivals. Like our own trends in fashion, it seems that humpback whales experience fashionable song waves spurred on, in part, by what’s attractive and also a desire for novelty. We can even see that the whales have a desire to stand out—pushing songs to evolve and be adopted—but not so much that they seem like a weirdo on the fashion fringe. ⁹

Whether a desire to stay right on the fashionable edge is meant to attract females or intimidate other males is still unclear, but scientists are eager to find out.

However we choose to look at the viral hits coming out of the whales of the South Pacific, it’s clear that there is something happening there, that, like our own cultural trends, goes beyond simply survival. Whales have intelligences and cultures much like our own. 

Just like those first recordings of humpback songs to hit our ears, this new knowledge about whale song could have the power to spur on a new human cultural revolution; a cultural revolution that reminds us that we are a part of nature, not its puppeteers. A cultural revolution that reminds us to look to nature and work with it to solve the major problems we face. And a cultural revolution that pushes us to recognize that there is more complexity than we can ever understand happening in the natural world—and to find awe and wonder in that truth.

Perhaps I’m just an outlier whale nerd, but I hope that these ideas don’t remain on the fringe, that they inspire you to get excited about the natural world, and to inspire others. If you’d like to dive deeper into some of these ideas and find yourself inspired by our planets biggest mammals, here are some articles I think you’ll have a whale of a time enjoying:

Stay beautiful and keep laughing!

-Liesl

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