Purpose of Whale-created Sounds
While the complex sounds of the Humpback whale (and some blue whales) are believed to be primarily used in sexual selection, the simpler sounds of other whales have a year-round use. While toothed whales are capable of using echolocation to detect the size and nature of objects, this capability has never been demonstrated in baleen whales. Further, unlike some fish such as sharks, a whale's sense of smell is not highly developed. Thus, given the poor visibility of aquatic environments and that sound travels so well in water, sounds audible to humans may play a role in navigation. For instance, the depth of water or the existence of a large obstruction ahead may be detected by loud noises made by baleen whales.
The singing of whale songs for aesthetic enjoyment, personal satisfaction, or 'for art's sake', is "an untestable question in scientific terms."
Read more about this topic: Whale Vocalization
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