When hunting, toothed whales use echolocation to search for food at depths of up to 2 km underwater. In addition, these
Having analyzed the sounds that toothed animals makewhales, researchers have identified different types of sounds. They roughly correspond to three registers in humans: high falsetto, chest octave and low strobe bass (Vocal fry). The last of them is the lowest, with it the sound is formed with the help of air passing through a relaxed, as if “freely swaying” glottis. Strobass is used in everyday speech, for example, by Kim Kardashian and Scarlett Johansson, the authors note.
The vocal apparatus of toothed whales. Image: Mikkel Larris, University of Southern Denmark
Researchers have found that toothed whalesThey use an analogue of the strobass for echolocation. This vocal register opens the vocal cords for a very short time and therefore requires a minimal amount of air. When diving, toothed whales produce short, powerful ultrasonic echolocation clicks at up to 700 sounds per second to locate, track and capture prey.
Killer whale calls corresponding to three voiceregisters. First, a few clicks of echolocation (register M0), then a call and a "whistling", which are probably in the registers M1 and M2, respectively. Audio: Olga Filatova, University of Southern Denmark
Dolphin calls corresponding to three voicesregisters First, several clicks of echolocation (M0 register), then “bursts” in the M1 register and, finally, a “whistle” in the M2 register. Audio: Coen Elemans, University of Southern Denmark
At a depth of more than 100 m, the whale's lungs collapse,To avoid compression sickness, the remaining air is kept in the nasal passages of the skull. It is these areas that are responsible for “speech” in whales. When echolocating, toothed whales pass air through structures called phonic lips located in the nose, which vibrate in the same way as a human's vocal cords.
Use of echolocation for hunting. Video: University of Southern Denmark
The researchers found that only the "economy" strobe mode is used for prey hunting, the other two voice registers are used for social interaction.
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