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At some point in your life, you’ve probably heard some say they were “singing for their supper,” though they may not have been referring to the dinner bell.
A new study shows humpback whales may know a little more about that than we previously thought. We know they communicate well within their communities, but now scientists say their voices can be used to draw in prey when feeding in groups.
The communal feeding behavior shows a lot of cooperation at meal time.
Biologist Susan Parks, assistant professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, has determined that this behavior easily observed at the surface of the ocean also takes places in deep water.
The use of specific auditory cues helps maintain contact and share information as they search for prey.
Biologists have long wondered how humpback whales find their prey in the deep, dark ocean, and now they know the acoustic cues make it possible.
When searching for prey alone, this study found the whales were silent.
So what are these humpback whales eating when they ring the dinner bell in the deep ocean? That would be the sand lance, an eel-like fish buried in the sand.
“Hints of behavior suggest that other whales who overhear the sounds are attracted to them and may eavesdrop on other whales hunting for food,” said Parks.
Read more from our source, redorbit.com.