One of the most important features of human civilization is its changing nature. New expressions are spreading across all continents, and technological advances such as mobile telephony and drones are changing the way we live. However, scientific studies have shown that even the largest whales are capable of cultural exchange without the need for high technology.

A study released Tuesday found that the humpback whale’s song is passed from one population to another across the entire Pacific Ocean in just two years. Lead researcher, oceanographer Helen Garland of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, says she was surprised to learn that whales in Australia have the ability to transmit their songs to their “relatives” in French Polynesia, who in turn “transmit” them. whales off the coast of Central America.

“Half of the planet is now verbally connected to whales. It’s incredible,” says Dr. Garland. These songs can spread anywhere in the southern hemisphere, while other researchers have found that whales in the Atlantic Ocean “catch” whale songs in the eastern Pacific.

Each minke whale population spends the winter in the same breeding area. The males then emit a loud underwater song that can last up to half an hour. All local males sing with the same purpose, and year after year this song turns into a new tune.

The big whale has the ability to change the original song by adding or removing a target.

Dr. Garland explores the complex and almost human structure of these songs. Whales combine short sounds that scientists call “units” to create musical phrases and purposes. Each song consists of several goals. Male whales sometimes change the unit of measure in their song. Sometimes a new phrase is added, sometimes the target is deleted. Other males then rush to imitate the new song, which evolves as it is passed from one population to another.

Biologist Michael Noad of the University of Queensland, Australia, has found that a population’s song can change dramatically. In 1996, Noad and colleagues noticed that a male minke whale off the coast of eastern Australia was abandoning a local song in favor of another that had first been heard on the western coast of the continent.

Dr. Garland’s research showed that whale songs, first heard on the east coast of Australia, appeared two years later in French Polynesia, 10,000 km away. A 2018 scientific study came to this. According to research by Dr. Judith Denkinster and Javier Onia, from the University of Quito, Ecuador, whale song is transmitted with minimal change throughout the southern hemisphere.

But to study the mechanism of whale song and its role, researchers must first understand what makes whales sing. The prevailing opinion is that the song of the whale plays the same role as the song of birds, which through it attracts females, thus ensuring the survival of the species.