Whales may communicate in ways humans don’t understand, but researchers like Jim Darling keep trying.

In Lynn Canal, the moans and groans of humpback whales reverberate through the hulls of small boats in the summer, making it a popular destination for whale watchers and researchers.

Darling, a professor of zoology from British Columbia, has researched whales for the past 25 years. He came to UAS-Juneau in October as part of the Egan Lecture Series.

Darling and the West Coast Whale Research Foundation began studying cetaceans and their songs in March of 2001 for the Jason Online Expedition program and the National Geographic Society. As with many academic pursuits, their insights have created more questions than they had hoped to resolve.

Observations early in the expedition allowed scientists to distinguish between individual humpback whales by noting unique pigment patterns on the underside of their flukes and dorsal fins. By documenting the locations of these individuals off Maui, Hawaii, the researchers recognized the same whales when they migrated to Mexico in the winter and Alaska in the summer.

Becoming intrigued by humpback singing off the coast of Maui, the researchers started their investigation on the assumption that Hawaiian waters were breeding ground for the pacific humpbacks and the murmurings were some sort of courtship activity. Since all the individuals analyzed were male, it was thought these subterranean songs were used to attract females. After all, that is usually the purpose for spontaneous and deliberate behavior in other species.

Since the researchers determined females were never involved or near the singing males, courtship as an explanation was ruled out. Investigations then shifted to the hypothesis that the moaning and groaning vocalizations were made to establish hierarchy so Darling and colleagues began noting the sound patterns and usage. Again, however, since the songs sung when individuals grouped in one pod were not even similar when these same individuals joined another, as a theory this too was debunked.

Essentially, the Whale Research Foundation was able to ascertain confidently that:

1) The singing only occurs among males.

2) There are two distinct roles engaged in by singing whales the Foundation refers to as “Singers” and “Joiners.”.

3) Groups will begin collecting when one or more individuals join a solo-singer listing in a dive position in 30-40 feet below the surface, near the ocean floor. The joiners echo the musical chords in a similar but slightly different fashion from those emitted by the listing singer.

4) After a period of arias with variations on a similar theme, the group will begin dispersing, often one at a time, and sometimes, but not always, eventually join with another singer’s chorus.

5) The original singer may become a joiner elsewhere and then echo the chords, with slight variations, of the new singer.

Now researchers think the vocalizations satisfy some other function for the humpbacks and they are continuing to research. Until they find an answer, whalesong is beyond human understanding.