Recently a study that has been published by the wildlife conservation society revels that humpback whales on both sides of the southern Indian Ocean are singing different tunes. This is unusual since humpbacks in the same ocean sing very alike songs. Scientists that have been working on this study say that the the songs that the humpbacks usually sing contain similar parts or themes. The differences in the song between the Indian Ocean humpback and its population most likely indicate that a limited exchange between the two regions may shed new light on how whale culture spreads.
Impact
Scientists that work with Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program said: "These song comparisons complement our findings based on other methods, such as those from genetic analysis, to understand how whale populations interact with one another." Other scientists added that "we have glimpsed here a snapshot of differences in repertoire between humpback whale populations of the Indian Ocean during a single season. Continued monitoring of these songs can provide us with valuable information on how whale songs are exchanged and how those channels of cultural transmission can be protected in the future."
Critique
Because I am a nature person I find that this article was educational and interesting. The study of how humpback whales communicate help scientists find out how whale songs are exchanged. Whales are a valuable animal in the world because of what large part they have in the food chain and ecosystem. So finding out more about these animals is critical to finding out information that has to do with the ecosystem.
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