Echoes of the Deep
Dr Ellen Garland’s new research has revealed whale song has human language-like structure. Humpback whales also have cultural revolutions through their song. These cultural waves spread across ocean basins as entire populations of whales will adopt novel songs introduced from a neighbouring population. The only other species in the whole animal kingdom that has these large and rapid cultural changes are humans.
Ellen, originally from New Zealand, has been researching whale song for almost 20 years. Her broad research interests include animal culture, social learning, bioacoustics, and behavioural ecology. Ellen's main research focuses on cetaceans, and in particular the cultural transmission, vocal learning, and function of humpback whale song. Ellen is also interested in vocal sequence analysis techniques, and using similarity in vocal displays to define population structures for conservation management.
This groundbreaking research is not possible without the painstaking collection of fundamental data at field sites in the South Pacific.
This crowdfunding seeks to raise £750 to fund a replacement digital audio recorder for the collection, analysis and understanding of humpback whale song. The research team’s current unit has been severely degraded by repeated exposure to saltwater conditions and is now unreliable for fieldwork. The device is critical to their work as it combines portability with professional‑grade recording capability, allowing the team to capture high‑quality sound in challenging environments. The unit’s robust, battery‑powered design and ability to record multiple tracks simultaneously make it particularly well‑suited to field research and outdoor use, where reliability and adaptability are essential.
The funding will allow Ellen and her team to continue investigating the exciting but fundamental question of: why do whales sing?
Help us succeed
Please share this project with anyone you think would like to support us
Find us here:
Website: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/biology/people/ecg5
Bluesky: @ellengarland.bsky.social
Photo Credits: Operation Cetaces
