1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: Lauren Vobblebomb here with a classic episode from our archives. 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: I love this one about humpback whales and their haunting songs. 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: It turns out that humpbacks repeat and build on each 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: other's music, similar to how humans play and cover pop songs. 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogelbaumb And as it turns out, 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: humans aren't the only creatures that create and riff on 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: catchy tunes. 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 2: Whales have pop music too. During breeding season, as male 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: humpback whales swim along, they sing the same song. Females 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 2: never sing, only males do to find a mate or 12 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 2: to posture for other males. The song is passed back 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 2: and forth between the members of a pod, each whale 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 2: adding his own little flourishes, and as that pod meets 15 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 2: other pods, they pass the tunes along until whole oceans 16 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 2: ring with the song of the moment. In the world 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 2: of human pop music, what was the hot song of 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 2: the summer will be dropped by every radio station in 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 2: the fall to make room for the new hot thing. 20 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 2: A research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society 21 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 2: b suggests that the same is true for whale songs. 22 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 2: The popular tune becomes gradually more and more complex as 23 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 2: it's altered by different populations of humpbacks, but after a 24 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 2: few years, the whales grow tired of their complicated ditty 25 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 2: and start from scratch again. The research team, based out 26 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 2: of the University of Queensland rated the complexity of song 27 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 2: recordings of ninety five humpback whales from different populations in 28 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 2: the Indian Ocean over the course of thirteen consecutive years. 29 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 2: They found that over the course of a couple of years, 30 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 2: the same song spread all the way across the South Pacific, 31 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 2: from East Australia to French Polynesia. Lead author Jenny Allen, 32 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 2: a marine biologist in the Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory 33 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 2: at the University of Queensland, said in a press release. 34 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 2: Typically these songs changed gradually, possibly through embellishments by individual singers. 35 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 2: We suspect the embellishments allow bulls to stand out from 36 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 2: their peers, much like teenage boys trying to stand out 37 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 2: from the crowd. But every few years the songs are replaced, 38 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 2: always by something simpler, suggesting there is a limit to 39 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 2: the whale's capacity to learn new material. Although there is 40 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 2: evidently a limit to how much whales can learn, the 41 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 2: build up and abandonment of particular songs signifies a rapid 42 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 2: cultural change over thousands of miles of ocean. Alan said 43 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 2: that's basically unparalleled in non human culture. Dolphins do have 44 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 2: fads too, though they have only been observed on a 45 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 2: smaller scale. An individual named Billy, who learned to walk 46 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 2: backwards on her tail and captivity, later taught the trick 47 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 2: to some wild dolphins after she was released. The dolphin 48 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 2: moonwalk really took off for a while. 49 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article humpback Whales start 50 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: simpler songs as old ones get too complex on houstuffworks 51 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: dot com. Written by Jesslyn Shields. Brainstuff is production of 52 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: by Heart Radio in partnership with houstuffworks dot Com and 53 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: its produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 54 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 55 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.