Tag Archive for 'Megaptera'

Arnon et al. uncovered the same statistical structure in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song that is a hallmark of human language. Image credit: Christopher Michel / CC BY 2.0.

Songs of Humpback Whales Show Human Language-Like Statistical Structure

Feb 6, 2025 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has analyzed the groans, moans, whistles, barks, shrieks and squeaks in humpback whale song recordings collected over...

Several animal species use tools for foraging; however, very few manufacture and/or modify those tools. Humpback whales, which manufacture bubble-net tools while foraging, are among these rare species. Using animal-borne tag and unoccupied aerial system technologies, Szabo et al. examine bubble-nets manufactured by solitary humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Southeast Alaska while feeding on krill. They demonstrate that the nets consist of internally tangential rings and suggest that whales actively control the number of rings in a net, net size and depth and the horizontal spacing between neighboring bubbles. They argue that whales regulate these net structural elements to increase per-lunge prey intake by, on average, sevenfold. Image credit: Szabo et al., doi: 10.1098/rsos.240328.

Humpback Whales Wield and Manufacture Their Own Tools

Aug 21, 2024 by News Staff

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) create the so-called ‘bubble-net tools’ to hunt, but researchers from the University of Hawai’i and the...

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

SETI Scientists Test Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as Tool for Exploring Non-Human Intelligence

Dec 13, 2023 by News Staff

The Whale-SETI team, which includes researchers from the SETI Institute, University of California Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation, has been studying...