“Beasts of science” is like a collection of stories. Beautiful stories that tell the living in all its freshness. But also in all its complexity. A parenthesis to marvel at the treasures of the world. For this new episode, let’s dive into the depths to meet a giant of the seas: the whale.
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[EN VIDÉO] 1,500 dolphins play with a baby humpback whale Filmed by a drone, this amazing scene shows a poorly explained encounter between a large group of dolphins (about 1,500) and a humpback whale accompanied by its calf, off the Californian coast, in Monterey Bay. Swimming very close to the large cetaceans, the dolphins splash them. The whale, perhaps embarrassed, dives, followed by its calf, and the dolphins ride the waves as they do near boats.
the silent world. Thus Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle qualified the seabed. That was in the mid-1950s. Since then, our vision of what is happening in the oceans has evolved considerably. Scientists now know that. Fish, shrimp and even coral emit sounds. Dolphins produce rapid clicks and whistles.
But, at the bottom of the oceans, whales are the only ones who can sing. We have known this since the beginning of the 1970s, only. When American researchers discovered the emissions sounds of humpback whales on US Navy recordings. Shows they called songs because they were composed of several sounds repeated at different frequencies.
These songs are primarily used by the whales to orient themselves in this dark world of theirs. The bottom of the oceans. But researchers suspect there are other functions to humpback whale song. As they are emitted by males, mainly in breeding areas, they imagined that it is love that the humpback whale sings. The trouble is that when researchers release “playbacks” of these songs, they come to nothing. No female seems attracted.
Their other hypothesis is that these songs serve to define a territory, to mark a position. While giving information on the health and perhaps the motivations of the whale which emits them. Just to inform those who might come across in the area.
The spectrogram of a humpback whale’s song. © University of Queensland
Appreciate the song of the whales to better preserve them
But what is perhaps even more amazing is that whale songs are changing. Slowly. They lose or gain vocalizations. From year to year. In fifteen years, the song of a humpback whale can thus be completely reworked. Ethologists speak of cultural evolution.
Because these evolutions are made in contact with other whales. The humpback whales are even able to learn incredibly complex songs from whales living in other regions. This is what researchers have observed between whales from New Caledonia, for example, and whales from the east coast of Australia.
This is the first time that researchers have observed such a level of cultural exchange between non-human species. On the migration routes or the feeding grounds that they share, the whales teach each other songs which they then repeat very precisely, without simplifying them and without omitting any sound whatsoever. And this, regardless of the complexity of the song. All with great efficiency, great speed since the songs in question change from year to year.
The humpback whale was recently removed from the list of endangered species. It’s good news. But this funny whale is not definitely out of danger. She must still remain under close surveillance. These startling observations made by researchers could help improve the effectiveness of conservation and management methods for the species. In the meantime, they are the sign that the humpback whale is not so stupid.
Octopus hunting in a lagoon In 2017, Gabriel Barathieu won first prize with this photo of an octopus hunting in a lagoon. The jury particularly appreciated “the bright contrasting colors, the delicate and very detailed textures and the perfect pose, to which are added the good choice of the lens and the situation. The whole thing combined produces a champion.” © Gabriel Barathieu, UPY 2017
In this shark egg lives a fruit bat embryo Taken in the English Channel, near Thurlestone, in Devon (England), this surprising image shows a dogfish egg (Scyliorhinus canicula), a chondrychtian, therefore from the shark family. Inside, lit by a lamp, the young fish is already agitated. © Dan Bolt, UPY 2016
A forest of sea pens (Pennatulacea) Jenny Stromvoll likes to dive often in the forest of sea pens (Pennatulacea), where shrimps and gobies come to spend time in the shelter. This beautiful composition with nuance in blues and oranges won second prize in the “macro” category. The jury admits that she was one of their favorites throughout their selections. © Jenny Stromvoll, UPY 2017
Humpback whale opening its mouth to eat krill Seeing that the concentration of krill was greater at greater depths, Jean Tresfon went deeper into the darker waters in the hope of photographing a humpback whale. They had come by the hundreds, like every austral summer, off Cape Town, South Africa. Suddenly, an individual emerged from the darkness, his mouth gaping. Not intimidated, the diver took a burst of photos. © Jean Tresfon, UPY 2017
Close-up of a seahorse A seahorse caught in the northern Adriatic Sea in August 2015. Long threatened by the destruction of the bottom caused by trawling, these species are now regaining strength. The close-up image won in the “macro” category. © Davide Lopresti, UPY 2016
Climbing slug on Bangka Island, Indonesia On Bangka Island, in Indonesia, the weather was not very nice on August 10, 2015 and Fabio Galbati decided to visit the mangroves. Teeming with life and light, she offered him this astonishing spectacle of a sea slug, a nudibranch gastropod a zoologist would say, Jorunna funebris a specialist would say, patiently climbing a vine or a root. © Fabio Galbiati, UPY 2016
Black tip sharks in the Moorea lagoon, near Tahiti We are in Moorea, very close to the island of Tahiti. In the lagoon, blacktip sharks are active even though it is daytime (they usually prefer to sleep when the sun is shining). Perhaps the image was taken in the early morning? A stingray walks on the white sand bottom. Behind, the peaks of this beautiful island. © Greg Lecoeur, UPY 2016
Dog on ice, Finland It is not a polar bear walking on the ice above him that Eero Hällfors photographed but one of his dogs, very busy sniffing the surface of the lake which had just started to freeze, in the first days of November, in Finland. Titled ‘Walking’, the photo was recognized as ‘highly recommended’ in the 2017 wide-angle category. © Eero Hällfors, UPY 2017
Green sea turtle searching a seagrass bed on a reef in Mayotte On a reef in Mayotte, near the N’Gouja beach, a green turtle (or right-handed turtle), the famous Chelonia mydas, swims in search of a seagrass that it can graze on. Taking advantage of its imposing shell which conceals them, two fish accompany it (yes, two…). © Gabriel Barathieu, UPY 2016
The shrimp that lost its mind Where is the head? How many legs? If it is indeed an animal, which one is it? It is a harlequin shrimp, aka Hymenocera picta, which lives in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. This one was admired in Bali, Indonesia. This small 5 cm crustacean has evolved over the course of its evolution a camouflage well adapted to the coral reefs where it lives. His favorite dish: starfish, which eat coral. Decryption: the eyes, stalked, are in the middle; above, flattened antennae; claws (or chelipeds) left and right, spotted blue and broadly flattened; the head (we can say cephalothorax) is under the eyes with, clearly visible on the left, a toothed rostrum. © Matteo Visconti, UPY 2016
A very curious petrel in the Pacific Ocean In Mexico, near Todos Santos in the Pacific Ocean, Alejandro Prieto was looking to photograph humpback whales when he saw this Hawaiian petrel swimming on the surface in front of him. He slowly approached it. “Usually, in this case, they run away. And the bird dipped its head down to look at this curious underwater animal. © Alejandro Prieto, UPY 2016
A sea slug that feeds on the eggs of other slugs In the Philippines, in Anilao, this nudibranch gastropod (Favorinus tsuruganus) is notoriously known to feed on the eggs of other sea slugs. This one has just found an excellent place for lunch. © Vania Kam, UPY 2016
A curious shark in the Bahamas In the Bahamas, Pier Mane was able to show patience and position himself on the bottom, near three large sponges, to surprise the passage of a shark in the light. © Pier Mane, UPY 2016
A mysterious ctenophore off the coast of England In the Bristol Channel, near Lundy Island, off Devon (England), this diver was able to wait around a ctenophore to capture it in full afternoon light. These curious, gelatinous animals, also called ctenaries, are distant cousins of jellyfish, but taxonomists are still hesitant about this relationship. Wouldn’t they rather be closer to us? © Nick Blake, UPY 2016
A lion’s mane jellyfish among moon jellyfish Ron Watkins, who won first prize in the “wide angle” category in 2017, says that during a dive in Alaska, he found himself surrounded by thousands of moon jellyfish scattered over several hundred meters, between 2 and 20 m deep. An unexpected, surreal and unforgettable experience, he explained. And also a real cosmic vision, one might add. Within this nebula, a sun, a star? No, a lion’s mane jellyfish rising to the surface. © Ron Watkins, UPY 2017
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