Fred Sharpe has studied humpback whales in Alaska for more than three decades. He’s particularly interested in the sounds they make – and what they mean.
Lately, the biologist has been focusing on the whale noises that can be heard at the surface. Sharpe says those sounds are largely understudied compared to their underwater counterparts, but that people in small coastal communities like Tenakee Inlet and Warm Springs hear them frequently.
“The locals know about them,” he said. “The fishermen know about these sounds.”
Now he’s asking Alaskans to listen closely, document their observations, and pass them along to him directly. He’s heard some really interesting anecdotes so far, including from folks who reported late-night whale sounds that spooked their pets.
“There’s one kind gentleman who loved to take hot tubs well into the evening,” Sharpe said. “He knew a lot more about these sounds than we did initially, because he would just be out there hearing them and hearing them tracking around.”
Sharpe said the sounds could reveal a lot about the mysterious creatures, which are both incredibly vocal and cryptic.
“Anything we can utilize to just gain insight into their interior worlds and to appreciate them more deeply and be better ocean stewards, it’s really important,” he said.
Think: their hunting behaviors, communication systems and more. Trumpet sounds, for example, can travel more than 12 miles through the atmosphere . They typically indicate that a humpback is really excited.
Sharpe said there could be practical applications. For starters, understanding the sounds could help humans better read the animals during entanglements and minimize conflicts between humans and whales more broadly.
It could also contribute to research on where the whales are – and how many there are in a given area.
Current research on whale sounds is largely driven by underwater listening, which requires expensive, ocean-proof technology. But Sharpe thinks a better grasp on aerial signals could allow researchers to rely on cheaper, above-water mics instead.
Sharpe said anyone who lives, works or recreates near the water is likely exposed to the sounds, so long as they pay attention. And, depending on a given area’s acoustics, people could hear them from really far away.
That includes high up in the mountains, where sound can roll up a valley from the water below. During a recent, month-long visit to Haines, Sharpe said he was particularly excited about that possibility in the Chilkat Valley, which is famous for its jagged peaks that tower above the Lynn Canal.
“It kind of reminds me of Patagonia, these mountains here,” he said. “The potential for sounds to be bouncing around and be heard and detected in odd locations is very enticing.”
You can reach Sharpe via email at iyoukeen@gmail.com. The whale sounds and photos in this story were collected under permit 26663 issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
