麻豆社

Down in the blue immensities of the oceans, where whales spend so much of their time, communicate is by sound. Sound travels further and faster in water than it does in air, so it makes sense that large mammals such as the humpback whales use sound to communicate with each other as well as to navigate the featureless expanses of the open oceans. Individuals keep in touch even when hundreds of miles apart. Humpbacks have developed long and complex songs. Deep notes are almost beyond the range of our hearing and are felt more as vibration like the deep notes of an organ in a cathedral. The more complex notes are aimed at inviting females to come and mate. All humpback males in one part of the ocean sing the same sequence of sounds, the same phrases and each may repeat that sequence several times. A complete song may last for half an hour and the repetitions can last several days.