A study led by the University of Queensland (UQ) has found that humpback whales can learn complex songs from whales in other regions.
Led by Dr. Jenny Allen at UQ’s School of Veterinary Science, researchers discovered that New Caledonian humpback whales were able to learn songs from their Australian east coast counterparts with great accuracy.
“This really indicates a level of ‘cultural transmission’ beyond any observed non-human species,” she said in a UQ release on Friday.
The study observed male humpback whale song patterns from each region between 2009 and 2015, with a focus on how culture is transmitted between the two populations….