Just like people share hit songs with friends, humpback whales create new songs each year and share them far and wide, new research shows.
The study found humpback whales can learn incredibly complex songs from whales from other regions – proving animals can exchange cultures.
“This really indicates a level of cultural transmission beyond any observed non-human species,” said researcher Dr Jenny Allen, from the University of Queensland’s School of Veterinary Science.
The study found New Caledonian humpback whales can learn songs from humpback whales from Australia’s east coast with remarkable accuracy.
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It supports the idea that songs are being learned by whales on shared migration routes, such as around New Zealand, or shared feeding grounds like Antarctica.
Kiwi scientists have previously found humpback whales converge at New Zealand’s remote Kermadec Islands/Rangitāhua to “jam” and share songs.
Opération Cétacés/Supplied
The research shows New Caledonian male humpback whales learn complex songs from humpback whales in eastern Australia, most likely as they get close together migrating past New Zealand or feeding in Antarctica.
Allen said the new study documented cultural exchange on a large scale and was a rare example of social learning between entire populations.
“We hope these findings provide a model for further study into understanding the evolution of cultural communication in animals and humans,” she said.
“Movement of entire song patterns across multiple populations, as observed in the South Pacific, has not yet been documented in any other location worldwide or any other species except humans,” the research said.
The study looked closely at the song patterns of male humpback whales between 2009 and 2015, and found the Australian humpback population made exactly the same sounds as the New Caledonian whales.
Opération Cétacés/Supplied
University of Queensland researcher Dr Jenny Allen, pictured collecting boat-based recordings, says the research into whale song shows a cultural exchange not observed in animals before.
“And each year we observed them, they sang a different song, so it means humpback whales can learn an entire song pattern from another population very quickly, even if it’s complex or difficult,” Allen said.
While humpback whales have recently been taken off the endangered species list, she said the research could help manage the population.
“Having an in-depth understanding of a species is known to greatly improve the efficacy of conservation and management methods.”
The research is a collaboration with Opération Cétacés from New Caledonia and has been published in Scientific Reports.
