Why do Humpback Whales Sing? A New Theory (with Dr Eduardo Mercado)

Explicit content warning

02/08/22 • 50 min

Today's interview is with Dr Eduardo Mercado, a professor of psychology at the University of Buffalo in New York. He is interested in how humans and animal brains change when they learn new things, and more specifically to study animal cognition and in particular dolphin cognition. He has come across some startling new evidence that could rewrite a lot of what we know about Humpback whales and large cetaceans alike. Listen in on our interview as we find out Dr Mercado’s answer to “why do Humpback whales sing?”.

Find his research here!
Check out All Things Wild YouTube here:
https://youtube.com/channel/UC5_MH_H-LW9ZUBR-layMc6w

Important Times:

00:10 Intro
01:15 Welcome Dr Mercado! Please tell us about yourself and what you study
02:00 How did you end up studying dolphins and whales?
04:35 So why do Humpback whales sing?
06:05 Are these like bird songs?
07:55 Other whales sing predictable and similar songs
09:20 Regional differences
11:55 What are the problems with the current accepted theories?
16:50 Humpback mating has never been observed before
18:15 Mating season
22:45 So what do you think they are doing?
27:00 Mapping the ocean’s whales
30:55 What are the sounds they use? Tell us about the songs themselves
32:30 What do you want to happen next with this research?
34:50 Great experiment idea
36:30 Convincing people and standing up to pushback from the scientific community
39:30 Whale ears
42:00 Echolocation controversy
45:55 What are your next steps?
47:40 How can people follow your research?
49:25 Outro

Find his research here!
Check out All Things Wild YouTube here:
https://youtube.com/channel/UC5_MH_H-LW9ZUBR-layMc6w

Important Times:

00:10 Intro
01:15 Welcome Dr Mercado! Please tell us about yourself and what you study
02:00 How did you end up studying dolphins and whales?
04:35 So why do Humpback whales sing?
06:05 Are these like bird songs?
07:55 Other whales sing predictable and similar songs
09:20 Regional differences
11:55 What are the problems with the current accepted theories?
16:50 Humpback mating has never been observed before
18:15 Mating season
22:45 So what do you think they are doing?
27:00 Mapping the ocean’s whales
30:55 What are the sounds they use? Tell us about the songs themselves
32:30 What do you want to happen next with this research?
34:50 Great experiment idea
36:30 Convincing people and standing up to pushback from the scientific community
39:30 Whale ears
42:00 Echolocation controversy
45:55 What are your next steps?
47:40 How can people follow your research?
49:25 Outro

Previous Episode

Paramedic Ants (with Dr. Erik Frank)

Today’s episode is with Erik Frank from the University of Wuerzburg in the department of animal ecology and tropical biology! He has made some groundbreaking discoveries about ants, they have paramedics! The ants he studies, the Matabele ant, is constantly at war with termites, attacking multiple colonies per day to take them as food. These battles often leave ants injured. Erik has discovered that these injured ants are taken from the battlefield and nursed back to health by these paramedic ants!

Get ready to have your mind blown and be faced with questions about consciousness, human society and life itself! Thank you Erik for being on the show!

You can find him on Twitter @ETF1989Check out All Things Wild YouTube here: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5_MH_H-LW9ZUBR-layMc6w

Important Times:

00:10 Intro
01:30 Welcome Erik! How and why did you start studying ants?
03:45 The Matabele ants
04:55 The role and jobs of ants
06:20 How are termites divided up? Workers and soldiers
06:50 How do the ants kill the termites?
08:05 Tell us about your big discovery: ant paramedics!
12:45 Which ants do they help?
14:00 The individual vs society
17:45 Ants could be ahead of us in evolution
19:25 How are they treating the injured ants?
21:00 Ant anatomy: tongues
22:00 How they treat wounds
24:10 How long does the treatment and rehabilitation take?
25:05 Could you describe the battle between the ants and the termites
28:05 Termite foraging
29:15 How far away do the ants and termites live from each other?
30:30 What predators do these ants have?
32:30 What decisions does an ant as an individual make?
33:25 Consciousness vs instinct
34:30 What do you think? What’s your opinion on any consciousness?
35:05 Brain size
335:40 Do you think they are aware that they are alive?
37:35 What is next for you? How can people find and follow your work?
38:40 Outro

Next Episode

Path Of The Puma (with Jim Williams)

Jim Williams, author of Path Of The Puma, is on the show this week! Find out all about mountain lions, where they live, how they hunt and a bunch of interesting facts about them! They are very interesting creatures that are spread over a large area, come and learn about the similarities and differences between them and other big cats and how their relationship to humans is changing. You can find out more about his book here: www.pathofthepuma.comCheck out All Things Wild YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5_MH_H-LW9ZUBR-layMc6w

01:10 Hello and welcome to the show!
02:55 Welcome Jim Williams
03:30 You wrote a book, The Path Of The Puma
04:40 It is an audio book too, how long did it take to make?
06:15 You started out in marine biology?
10:00 Decline in kelp forests and Great White sharks
12:25 From working with dolphins to studying mountain lions?!
18:25 What was it like working with dolphins? Do you think that zoos and aquariums are still necessary?
25:40 Tell us about the Mountain Lion habitat
30:00 Most of the time we don’t know they are around
32:40 Great tracking story
34:30 How do they compare to leopards?
36:40 Jaguars
37:55 Regional differences between the same species
40:45 Mountain lion conservation should be an easier thing to get right
42:30 People and mountain lions
46:05 The hunters are leading the conservation for these cats
50:55 Predator vs prey ratio
55:25 Predators keep the food chain stable
59:40 Glacier National Park
01:02:30 Thank you for being on the show! Your last thoughts