Why Whales Sing

Author: Eduardo Mercado III / Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press / Pages: 328

In Why Whales Sing, cognitive scientist Dr. Eduardo Mercado III challenges decades of scientific research into the purpose behind humpback whale song, in which the prevailing view is that it is a function of sexual selection and is used by males to attract a mate. He argues that humpback whales may instead be using their songs to visualize their environment through sound, interpreting echoes that carry information back to them across great distances, similar to echolocation used by bats and dolphins.

While clearly passionate about his subject, the author’s work is not always easily accessible, as it relies heavily on technical descriptions of neuroscience, ocean acoustics, and whale physiology. The book at times also carries a whiff of bitterness about it, a resentment that his theories have not been more readily accepted. This unfortunately detracts from what is a fascinating, albeit controversial, review of current scientific inconsistencies surrounding the whale song “mate-attraction hypothesis.”

The most riveting and important aspect of the book occurs toward the end, when the author sounds the alarm about the degradation of the ocean environment and its impact on the future of whales. Whether whale song is a central aspect of whale culture and social cohesion, a means to perceive and navigate the world around them, or some mix of the two, human-caused ocean noise, vessel traffic, and rises in ocean temperatures are all, as Mercado notes, “tinkering with whales’ singing behavior.”

Why Whales Sing is both a provocative scientific argument and a reminder that whale song is still as necessary a part of the Save the Whales movement as it was in the 1970s. Regardless of how one views Mercado’s scientific conclusions, one cannot deny the passion of his call to protect humpback whales so they can continue to sing, be heard, and—eventually, perhaps—be understood.

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