Yes, whales do have ears that are specially designed for being able to listen to sounds underwater.
In the underwater world, whales rely on their acute sense of hearing to navigate the ocean, find food, keep track of their children, and communicate with one another.
Communication among whales may include informing others of a desire to mate, alerting their pod members when there is nearby danger, or letting others know when they have found an ample supply of fish or other prey.
Depending on the species, whales will either communicate using loud, low-pitched moans and whines or short, high-pitched clicks and whistles.
Baleen whales are known primarily for their loud, low-pitched notes that can be heard several miles away.
These loud sounds are essential for helping these marine mammals find each other over long distances, and species such as the humpback whale are known to create loud mating calls to let other whales know that they are interested in mating.
Even during deep dives, the baleen whales sounds can be heard underwater, allowing them to attract the attention of other whales that aren’t near the surface.
On the other hand, toothed whales use fast, high-pitched clicks and whistles that have different frequencies depending on the individual whale, dolphin, or porpoise that is communicating.
These individual high-pitched sounds allow the marine mammals to determine who is communicating in the group and are extremely useful for helping them locate individual pod members as well as keep track of friends and family.
In addition to using their high-pitched clicks for communication, toothed whales can use a technique known as echolocation, which allows the whale to bounce sounds off of objects in the environment and gain information from the echo that returns to them, such as the distance of an object, how fast it’s moving, what direction it’s in, how large it is and whether it’s a dense or hollow object.
Their echolocation is so advanced they can tell if the object is a form of food, a predator, or an inanimate object.
Echolocation is extremely valuable when there is no light available (such as during the night) or when they are trying to locate potential prey.
In addition to having an excellent hearing, several whale species also have perfect eyesight. As a result, they rely heavily on their vision to navigate the ocean and search for prey in areas with sufficient lighting.
C whales are highly effective at surviving and thriving in the ocean by combining their acute sense of hearing with echolocation and good vision.
Why is Hearing in the Ocean so Important?
When it comes to the speed of sound, there is a vast difference in how it travels on the ground and in the ocean.
Sound travels four times faster in water than it does on land.
This increased speed allows whales (with their highly attuned sense of hearing) to have a significant advantage in the aquatic world over other animals that do not rely as heavily on sound.
In addition to the increased speed of sound in the water, various whale species can hear a broader range of frequencies than humans and can listen to sounds that have occurred several miles away.
The ability to quickly detect sounds in the distance is similar to an early warning and notification system for whales, as sound can often reach them before the opportunity of danger does.
Although their sense of hearing is sharp, whales and dolphins aren’t always able to avoid attacks from predators such as killer whales or sharks or collisions with large boats and ships.
Their sense of hearing gives them a massive advantage in the ocean, but they still face unavoidable threats from time to time.
Like other animal species, whales receive sound through their ears; however, unlike other animal species, whales also receive sound through their skull and jaw, which helps the sound travel to the whale ear bone for improved listening and frequency range.
Are Artificial Sounds Harming Whales?
Over the decades, many manufactured ambient noises such as sonar (from submarines), loud boat engine noises, explosives, and loud aircraft have become increasingly common, raising concerns regarding the whale’s ability to survive in their environment.
These sounds have made it difficult for whales to rely on their hearing or echolocation to pinpoint potential prey and navigate the often pitch-black ocean.
Some of these concerns include the possibility of stranded beached whales due to difficulty navigating the ocean or distractions caused by these noises, permanent damage to hearing and hemorrhaging near the whale’s ear and brain tissue, possible decompression sickness from raising to the surface too quickly and difficulty locating food because of ambient interruption during the use of echolocation.
These artificial sounds aren’t just affecting the whale population either.
In addition to whales, these sounds are also affecting dolphins and porpoises.
All three animals are marine mammals and are part of the cetacean family.
Therefore they share many of the same physiological traits, including how their hearing works.
To better protect these marine mammals from artificial sounds, continuous research is being done to look for ways to improve the synthetic sounds being created and possibly even develop new laws and rules to regulate the use of these sounds in areas that may affect the lives of the marine mammals living there.
What Else Affects Whale Populations?
Whales are a protected species, and even though they are no longer being hunted, they are still at risk of being harmed by artificial sounds, collisions with boats and ships, pollution, and construction work.
While this article focuses on how whales hear and what affects their survival ability, it’s also essential to understand other factors involved in their survival and well-being.
In addition to artificial sounds, whales are becoming more and more susceptible to collisions with large ships and boats, especially in commercial areas.
Although these marine mammals may come into contact with boats, species like river dolphins may face even more threats due to heavy commercial travel and limited space.
Lastly, overfishing can affect food scarcity for whale and dolphin populations, as areas that are heavily fished tend to reduce the amount of prey available for marine mammals to consume.
In addition, smaller whales and dolphins may get caught in fishing gear and end up drowning due to an inability to resurface for air.
When you combine the effects of artificial sounds with other factors that inhibit the survival of marine mammals, the growing need to protect these animals becomes more and more apparent.
With organizations and companies focused on helping whales and other marine mammals, we can hopefully find an even ground for protecting these endangered animals and continue to see advancements in our technology to help the earth.