Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T06:45:52.562Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mind the gap: why neurological plasticity may explain seasonal interruption in humpback whale song

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2010

A.J. Wright  and
L.A. Walsh
A.J. Wright*
Affiliation:
National Environmental Research Institute, Department for Arctic Environment, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, Postboxs 358, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
L.A. Walsh
Affiliation:
Previously with National Geographic, 1145 17th Street NW, Washington DC 20036, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A.J. Wright, National Environmental Research Institute, Department for Arctic Environment, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, Postboks 358, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark emails: marinebrit@gmail.com; awr@dmu.dk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Much is unknown about humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song. The behaviour is limited almost exclusively to males, occurs almost exclusively on the calving grounds and is identical within a population, although it changes periodically throughout the season. Much of current thinking associates humpback whale song with breeding, although it is not clear if it is intended to attract a mate, fend off challengers, or a combination of the two. There is, however, very little information on the internal biology of these large, sea-going mammals, so the majority of hypotheses have not considered much in the way of physiological mechanisms. Nonetheless, we believe that there is enough information available to infer that a seasonal process of neurological development and atrophy similar to that found in other animals may be present in humpback whales. We believe this explains why humpback whale song is not produced between breeding seasons and also why it does not vary between seasons, while it does so within a season. It also adds additional weight to the idea that humpback whale song is an honest signal of fitness to a potential mate or competitor.

Keywords

humpback whalesongbrainneurologyreproductive behaviour
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Special Issue 8: Marine Mammals , December 2010 , pp. 1489 - 1491
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Best, P.B. (1982) Seasonal abundance, feeding, reproduction, age and growth in minke whales off Durban (with incidental observations from the Antarctic). Report of the International Whaling Commission 32, 759–786.Google Scholar
Brenowitz, E.A. and Lent, K. (2002) Act locally and think globally: intracerebral testosterone implants induce seasonal-like growth of adult avian song control circuits. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99, 12421–12426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brownell, R.L. and Ralls, K. (1986) Potential for sperm competition in baleen whales. In Donovan, D. (ed.) Behavior of whales in relation to management. Cambridge, UK: International Whaling Commission, pp. 110–141. [Report of the International Whaling Commission, Special Issue 8.]Google Scholar
Charif, R.A., Clapham, P.J. and Clark, C.W. (2001) Acoustic detections of singing humpback whales in deep waters off the British Isles. Marine Mammal Science 17, 751–768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chittleborough, R.G. (1955) Aspects of reproduction in the male humpback whale Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 6, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clapham, P.J. (1996) The social and reproductive biology of humpback whales: an ecological perspective. Mammal Review 26, 27–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, C.W. and Clapham, P.J. (2004) Acoustic monitoring on a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding ground shows continual singing into late spring. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London 271, 1051–1057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacobs, L.F. (1996) Sexual selection and the brain. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11, 82–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mikhalev, Y.A. (1997) Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the Arabian Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 149, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, E.C.M., Wright, A.J. and Gore, M.A. (2008) The nature of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song. Journal of Marine Animals and Their Ecology 1, 21–30.Google Scholar
Payne, K., Tyack, P. and Payne, R. (1983) Progressive changes in the song of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): a detailed analysis of two seasons in Hawaii. In Payne, R. (ed.) Communication and behavior of whales. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 9–57.Google Scholar
Piersma, T. and Lindstrom, A. (1997) Rapid reversible changes in organ size as a component of adaptive behavior. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12, 134–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeves, B.J., Beecher, M.D and Brenowitz, EA. (2003) Seasonal changes in avian song control circuits do not cause seasonal changes in song discrimination in song sparrows. Journal of Neurobiology 57, 119–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reilly, S.B., Bannister, J.L., Best, P.B., Brown, M., Brownell, Jr R.L., Butterworth, D.S., Clapham, P.J., Cooke, J., Donovan, G.P., Urbán, J. and Zerbini, A.N. (2008a) Balaenoptera acutorostrata. In IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. IUCN <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2474/0> (accessed 28 July 2009).+(accessed+28+July+2009).>Google Scholar
Reilly, S.B., Bannister, J.L., Best, P.B., Brown, M., Brownell, Jr R.L., Butterworth, D.S., Clapham, P.J., Cooke, J., Donovan, G.P., Urbán, J. and Zerbini, A.N. (2008b) Balaenoptera bonaerensis. In IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. IUCN <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2480/0> (accessed 28 July 2009).+(accessed+28+July+2009).>Google Scholar
Rice, D.W. (1998) Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press Inc. [Society for Marine Mammalogy Special Publication Number 4.]Google Scholar
Rice, D.W. and Wolman, A.A. (1971) The life history and ecology of the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus). American Society of Mammalogists Special Publication 3, 1–142.Google Scholar
Symons, H.W. and Weston, R.D. (1958) Studies on the humpback whale (Megaptera nodosa) in the Bellingshausen Sea. Norsk Hvalfangst-Tidende (The Norwegian Whaling Gazette) 2, 53–81.Google Scholar
Tramontin, A.D. and Brenowitz, E.A. (2000) Seasonal plasticity in the adult brain. Trends in Neurosciences 23, 251–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tramontin, A.D., Perfito, N., Wingfield, J.C. and Brenowitz, E.A. (2001) Seasonal growth of song control nuclei precedes seasonal reproductive development in wild adult song sparrows. General and Comparative Endocrinology 122, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tramontin, A.D., Wingfield, J.C. and Brenowitz, E.A. (2003) Androgens and estrogens induce seasonal-like growth of song nuclei in the adult songbird brain. Journal of Neurobiology 57, 130–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vu, E.T., Risch, D., Clark, C.W., Gaylord, S., Hatch, L., Merrick, R.L., Thompson, M.A., Tougaard, J., Wiley, D.N. and Van Parijs, S.M. (2009) Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song occurs extensively on a feeding ground in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Abstracts of the 18th Biennial Confrence on the Biology of Marine Mammals. October 12–16. Quebec, Canada, 269 pp.Google Scholar