She concluded that these animals had evolved unique laryngeal structures for the production of sounds.
Once his lungs are full of air, after an inspiration with his vent and the closing of valves preventing the intrusion of water, the whale produces its song by pushing air through its larynx.
It vibrates between cartilaginous cords, much like air does between the vocal cords of a human to produce a sound. Before passing into a pocket, called the laryngeal, which allows its recycling towards the lung before a new vocalization.
Coen Elemans' discovery is the alternative, and perhaps concomitant, depending on the species, use of a fat pad located above the cartilaginous cords. It would produce another sound.
This observation was obtained by recording the vibrations produced by an air flow in the larynx samples . Which still remains impossible to observe on a living animal, given its size, notes Joy Reidenberg.
She nonetheless wonders whether the hypothesis arising from the study could explain how certain whales manage to produce at least two different sounds at the same time.
One of the limitations of the experiment is its holding in the open air with larynx samples. Which does not explain how sounds produced inside the animal can propagate outside in the water, with all hatches closed.
The measurements carried out by Coen Elemans' team also set physiological limits to the frequency ranges of songs, their duration and the depth up to 100%. at which whales can emit them.
These vocalizations would thus be located essentially at the same depths and frequencies as the sounds produced by maritime traffic. Disrupting possible communication between cetaceans.
Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116