Listen to Baby Humpback Whales Whisper to Their Mothers

A mother-calf pair in Exmouth Gulf (Credit: Fredrik Christiansen) Humpback whale babies don't scream for their mothers' attention — they whisper. Researchers who listened in on communications between humpback whale mothers and their calves believe they recorded what amounts to a whale whisper. Using detachable acoustic tags, the researchers followed eight calves and two mothers for 48 hours each as they swam near their breeding grounds off Australia's coast, and say that this is the first time such vocalizations have been recorded in this manner. The recordings capture the interactions between mother and calf during a critical stage of the young whale's life. They must prepare for the journey to colder summer feeding grounds, which can span thousands of miles, and must grow quickly and store up enough energy to do so. This requires voracious feeding, and the presence of a nurturing mother nearby. In a paper published Tuesday in ...