Acoustic properties of humpback whale songs

TLDR

The study aimed to estimate the potential sound exposure of nearby humpback whales. Researchers deployed a five‑hydrophone vertical array with 7‑m spacing and a TASCAM recorder to locate and record humpback whale songs, using time‑of‑arrival differences to determine the singers’ positions. Humpback whale songs exhibited source levels of 151–173 dB re 1 μPa, projected horizontally even when the whale’s head was angled down, and contained high‑frequency harmonics up to 24 kHz, implying a hearing range that extends to at least that frequency.

Abstract

A vertical array of five hydrophones was used to measure the acoustic field in the vertical plane of singing humpback whales. Once a singer was located, two swimmers with snorkel gear were deployed to determine the orientation of the whale and position the boat so that the array could be deployed in front of the whale at a minimum standoff distance of at least 10m. The spacing of the hydrophones was 7m with the deepest hydrophone deployed at a depth of 35m. An eight-channel TASCAM recorder with a bandwidth of 24kHz was used to record the hydrophone signals. The location (distance and depth) of the singer was determined by computing the time of arrival differences between the hydrophone signals. The maximum source level varied between individual units in a song, with values between 151 and 173dB re 1μPa. One of the purposes of this study was to estimate potential sound exposure of nearby conspecifics. The acoustic field determined by considering the relative intensity of higher frequency harmonics in the signals indicated that the sounds are projected in the horizontal direction despite the singer being canted head downward anywhere from about 25° to 90°. High-frequency harmonics extended beyond 24kHz, suggesting that humpback whales may have an upper frequency limit of hearing as high as 24kHz.