Humpback whales change song pitch when others join ^{CEFR B2}

A recent study shows humpback whales actively alter the pitch of their songs when a nearby singer joins. The changes are contextual: whales sometimes shift the pitch of individual sounds up or down depending on how a second singer is vocalising. Eduardo Mercado III, professor emeritus of psychology at the University at Buffalo and a coauthor, said, “They’re listening quite intently and modifying songs in real time in ways that don’t seem to be by chance.”

Responding to a co‑singer and adjusting pitch implies both mental and vocal flexibility. The researchers point out that bats show limited pitch adjustment and that humans can fine‑tune voices when performing together, for example in choirs. The study, led by Julia Hyland Bruno of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, appears in the journal Animal Behaviour.

Authors contrast humpback behaviour with other types of group vocalising in mammals. In many species, group calls show physical strength or signal group membership, as with lions or some primates; animals often increase intensity or join a chorus but do not change their sounds directly in response to others. Why humpbacks adjust their songs remains unknown, and the paper provides a starting point for further research.