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Blue whales recorded off the Monterey Bay, CA submarine canyon rim during the fall of 1986. This sound is in a higher frequency range than the previous recording (above) and may be a harmonic of a lower frequency call. Courtesy of Bernd Würsig
Description
These bluish gray whales are the largest living mammals, reaching as long as 30.5 m (100 ft) and weighing 160 tons. Feeding mostly on krill with the use of baleen plates, these animals can consume four tons of krill per day during the peak summer feeding season! Blue whales are found along or offshore of the continental shelf in all oceans of the world. Blue whales produce long, multi-part vocalizations that include long pulses, buzzes, and rasps. These vocalizations are typically in the 15-40 Hz range, often below the threshold of human hearing. Even though blue whale calls are generally the same, there are distinct geographic variations that might help scientists distinguish separate populations. Scientists currently use blue whale vocalizations to study their distribution (see How is sound used to study marine mammal distribution?. How blue whales use their vocalizations is not known for certain, but the calls could possibly aid in long-distance communication or navigation (see How do marine mammals use sound to navigate?).
References
Mellinger, D.K. and Clark, C.W. 2003. Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) sounds from the North Atlantic. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 114(2): 1108-1119.
Stafford, K.M., Nieukirk, S.L. and Fox, C.G. 2001. Geographic and seasonal variation of blue whale calls in the North Pacific. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 3(1): 65-76.
Additional Resources
McDonald, M.A., Calambokidis, J., Teranishi, A.M. and Hildebrand, J.A. 2001. The acoustic calls of blue whales off California with gender data. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 109(4): 1728-1737.
Richardson, W.J., Green, C.R. Jr., Malme, C.I. and Thomson, D.H. 1995. Marine Mammals and Noise. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
