1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Volga Baum here. Known for their mystical songs, 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: global travel, and impressive gymnastics, pumpback whales are one of 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: the ocean's most captivating and complex giants. While they aren't 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: as big as the blue whale, which is the largest 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: animal on the planet, pumpback whales are still quite the whoppers, 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: growing up to sixty feet that's over eighteen meters long 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: and weighing up to forty tons that's about the length 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: of a city bus but the weight of two. The 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 1: hump that forms under their small dorsal fin when they breach, 11 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: that is, when they throw apart or all of their 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: bodies out of the water, gives them their recognizable name. 13 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: They have a uniquely huge tail and pectoral fins. Their 14 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: backside is black, and their underbelly is a varying mix 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: of both black and white. What appear from a distance 16 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: to be decorative lines on their underside are actually ventral plates. 17 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: These plates fold open and allow the whale's throat cavity 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: to expand, so they can scoop up copious amounts of 19 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: water and thus their prey. When they feed Humpback whales 20 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: are one of fourteen species of bailen whales, type of 21 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: whale that has balan plates instead of teeth. Balan plates 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: are long, thick, bristly fibers made of keratin attached to 23 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: their upper jaw. These are useful because, despite the whale's 24 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: massive size, humpbacks like to show down on much smaller 25 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: sea creatures like plankton, krill, anchovies, and cod. They gulp 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: in enough water to fill a swimming pool, and then 27 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,279 Speaker 1: when they expel it, the baileean plates filter in those 28 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: tiny tasty creatures. Also, if you've ever heard of whale 29 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: bone used in vintage corsetry, these are the whale bones 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: in question if you're imagining a diver getting scooped up 31 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: in all that water. Never year, though these whales are 32 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: a lot bigger than us, they're not built to swallow 33 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: us sized animals. While there esophagus thus stretch a little 34 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: when they swallow a meal, their throat and those of 35 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: most whale species, isn't any wider than a human fist, 36 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: and if you ended up in their mouth by mistake, 37 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: you would promptly be spit out, which has happened before. 38 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: And the divers have lived to tell the tale. Humpback 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: whales can be found in all oceans around the globe, 40 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: in part due to having one of the longest migration 41 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: patterns of all mammals. Humpback populations spend part of the 42 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: year feeding and fattening up in colder waters, and then 43 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: head to tropical or subtropical oceans to focus on mating. 44 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: Females generally produce a single calf every two to three 45 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: years on average, which might not seem like much, but 46 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: those calves will live for approximately eighty to ninety years. 47 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: Humpback whales tend to live close to shore, and since 48 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: they often slap the water and reach the surface, they're 49 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: a frequent and awe inspiring site for whale watchers. For 50 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Work. 51 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: Spoke by email with Ed Lyman, a natural resource management 52 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: specialist at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. 53 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: He explained that scientists believe these acrobatics likely serve more 54 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: than one purpose. A quote. First, it may be a 55 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: grooming or cleaning mechanism. You throw all or most of 56 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: forty tons in the case of a typical adult humpback 57 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: whale of your body out of the water and come 58 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: crashing back down. You're very likely to remove loose skin parasites, 59 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: and in general, any biofouling. Doing so reduces drag and 60 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: helps maintain the animals hydrodynamic form. It reduces your energy budget. 61 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: Other possibilities include the movement and or the sound of 62 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: the splash as a means of communication, as displays of 63 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: aggression or competitiveness, or as a come hither during breeding displays, 64 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: but Lyman said it may just be fun. When we 65 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: seek halves breaching and sanctuary waters, we tend to lean 66 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: toward this interpretation, though this applies to adults as well. 67 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: Humpbacks are master communicators. The males compose grunts and wines 68 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: and the complex songs that travel great distances under water. 69 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: Researchers are still debating the exact purpose of the music, 70 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: though it's generally thought to be part of mating displays, 71 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: as more tends to happen during breeding season. How Stuff 72 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: Works also spoke by email with Mark Lammer's PhD, a 73 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: research ecologist who is also with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback 74 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: Whale National Marine Sanctuary. He says the biggest question is 75 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: who exactly the males are serenading. While it's possible that 76 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: females choose their mates based on these songs, there's little 77 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: evidence of that so far. Quote there's more behavioral evidence 78 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: to suggest that other males pay close attention to the 79 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: singing of their competitors. As a result, several researchers myself included, 80 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: believe that song may help to mediate male male interactions 81 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: by potentially communicating the competitive fitness of a singer to 82 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: potential competitors. Males within each population sing the same song 83 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: with room for improvisation, but just as we humans have 84 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: different voice characteristics, so do whales. Lambers said. It's that 85 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: individual variability that may carry important information about a male's 86 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: fitness and therefore its ability to compete for a female 87 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: that other males and possibly females may be listening for. 88 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: Due to centuries of intense commercial whaling, the entire humpback 89 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: population was listed as endangered in nineteen seventy, but things 90 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: started looking up in when the International Whaling Commission's final 91 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: whaling moratorium on commercial harvest took effect. Today, they still 92 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: sometimes get caught in fishing gear or collide with boats, 93 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 1: but their population is thankfully increasing. Only four out of 94 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: fourteen distinct populations are still listed as endangered. With continued conservation, 95 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: these gentle giants will continue to sing, splash about, and 96 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: amaze us all. Today's episode is based on the article 97 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: Pumpback whales have made an amazing comeback from extinction on 98 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com, written by Katie Carmen. Brain 99 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio in partnership with 100 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. 101 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 102 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.