whale sounds

[razman]

How do whales make their sounds? have they a voicebox and larynx like a human?

[Clanad]

No, they manipulate the blow hole on top of their heads, through which they breathe, to make the various sounds...

[wildwood]

Here is a site that deals with the way some whales make sound.

Voicebox in humans is a bit of a misnomer as it does not produce the words, we do that with our mouth and tongue. All mammals and birds have a type of larynx that produces the original range of sounds, this is manuputated via various avenues to produce the range of sounds that each species' needs to survive and reproduce.

[andy-hughes]

The really cool thing about whales is their mating song.

Males call to females, and they can hear each other across vast distances. As other males hear a song, they sing the same song, until one whale subtly alters the song in order to attract a mate by being 'different'. Sure enough, all the other males hear the change, and change their song as well, so that by the end of the mating season, the mating song is completely different from when it started, but all the males have adapted and sing the same song at the end of the season.

How cool is that?