Researchers have revealed how large ocean whales perform their striking and complex tunes.
Humpback and other mustached whales have a special "voice box" that allows them to sing underwater.
The article published in Nature also reveals why the noise we generate in the ocean waters is so dangerous for these marine giants.
Whale singing is limited to a narrow frequency range that coincides with noise from vessels.
"Sound is extremely important for their survival because it is the only way to find a partner for reproduction in the ocean," Professor Cohen explained from the University of Southern Denmark, who headed the study.
"These are some of the most mysterious creatures ever lived on Earth," BBC News said. "They make up one of the largest animals on the planet, they are smart and very social."
Musty whales belong to a group of 14 species, which include blue, humpback, straight, small and gray whales. Unlike teeth, these animals have horny plates known as whale mustache through which they filter food from water.
By this time, it remains a mystery how they create their complex and often unpleasant songs for the ears. The professor element noted that understanding this process was "extremely exciting." He and his colleagues conducted experiments with "voice boxes" of whales, which were removed from the mascara of three dead animals that got to the shallows. These were representatives of different types: dwarf striped, humpback whale and a strip of seaval.
Scientists used massive air blowing structures, creating sound. In a person, the voice is formed by vibrations of air passing through the voice in the throat. In the larynx, the larynx has a large U-shaped structure with a fatty pillow at the top, which allows them to produce sounds, processing air and preventing water from entering.
Researchers have created computer models of sounds and have shown that the singing of the mustache whales is limited by the narrow frequency range that coincides with the noise created by sea vessels.
"They cannot simply change their singing at a higher frequency to overcome the noise we generate in the ocean," the professor explained the element.
His research has shown how the ocean noise could prevent whales interfere with a long distance. This knowledge can be critical to preserving humpbacks, blue whales and other marine giants that are at risk of extinction. This study also answers questions about the spooky songs that scientists have considered for decades, and sailors attributed to them a supernatural origin or mythical marine creatures.
Dr. Kate Stafford from Oregon University called this study innovative.
"Voice and hearing are key sense organs for marine mammals, so any studies that reveal how they make sounds can significantly promote our understanding of this area," she said for the BBC.
The study also drew the evolutionary path of whatever the ancestors returned to the oceans from land and adapted to communication underwater.
Understanding how tooth whales create sounds is easier because these animals are well studied. These marine mammals, which include dolphins, kids, sperm whales and marine pigs, use special structures in their nasal passages to produce sounds.
Dr. Ellen Harlend from the Study Studies Department of the University of St. Endrus said: "I was always interested in how mustache whales, including humpbacks, which I focus on in my study, produce such a variety of sounds."
"The study of big whales has always been a very difficult task, but trying to reveal how they make sounds when you can't even see them underwater, add even more difficulty, so these researchers have proven to be extremely creative."
Dr. Stafford added that the ability of marine mammals to produce such complex voice signals is "amazing" and emphasized "how unique".
