Cetacean acoustic communication

Abstract

The mammalian order Cetacea, which contains the whales, dolphins and porpoises, is a highly diverse group with respect to life history patterns, social structure, social behavior and communication. This chapter reviews what is known about communication in each of the 13 cetacean families, and includes discussions of some of the better known communicative signals, such as the songs of several baleen whale species, and the group- and individual-specific signals of killer whales and bottlenose dolphins. The apparent anti-predator adaptations seen in the vocalizations of several families are also discussed. Overall, there is a great need for basic research on how calls are used in the natural communication systems of most cetacean species. Such research promises to shed light on both applied (e.g., effects of anthropogenic noise) and basic (e.g., evolution of vocal learning) research questions.