Whale and porpoise voices : a phonograph record

Abstract

The vocal sounds of cetaceans are a little known and even less understood feature of the complex adaptation of these animals, whose ancestors lived on the dry land, to an entirely aquatic existence. Even in the clearest surface waters, sight is limited to about a hundred feet or less in daytime, and visibility ranges are mostly negligibly short for fast-swimming animals, so that they are effectively partly or wholly blinded. Therefore sound and hearing have an especially important place in their lives. Sound is used not only in direct communication, but also to a large degree in navigation and hunting (echo-location). The excerpts presented here are samples of such sounds made by eighteen species, all obtained by eavesdropping in the open sea (except for the Inia selection, which was made in captivity). These recordings have not been speeded up or slowed down, and so are true in natural frequency and time; there has been no editing or filtering except as noted.