Humpback, Bowhead, Fin, Blue and Minke whales all produce varied forms of song that are often speculated to be associated with breeding. This study has shown that Dwarf Minke Whales, sighted on the Great Barrier Reef, sing a strikingly complex and unusual song. The uniquely curious behavior of the whales in this population permitted a detailed investigation of the function of their song and other sounds as whales closely circled a boat for hours on end. A remote array of hydrophones was also used to passively monitor the spacing behavior and movements of singing whales from afar. Finally, playbacks to the whales showed that such songs are used to maintain spacing between singing animals.

Jason Gedamke is completing this work for his Ph.D. degree at UC Santa Cruz. ACS/MB has supported his work with a research grant. Jason spoke to us previously prior to beginning his field work. He is a lively, entertaining and highly informative speaker who has spent four seasons on the Great Barrier Reef, taking advantage of these curious and tame animals in their clear water environment off Lizard Island.

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