Whales sing about their supper

In a study published in February 2025, a team of researchers monitored the songs of blue, fin, and humpback whales off the West Coast of the United States during a six year period (2015-2021). The researchers were interested to know if environmental conditions might be detected by studying whale song. In a review article Krill or anchovy? Baleen whale songs may indicate what’s on the menu,  Laura Baisas for Popular Science wrote that an increase in song consistently followed an improvement in foraging conditions for humpbacks. The study found that an increase in the availability of krill and anchovy populations tracked with an increase in humpback whale songs. This study suggests that a relationship does exist between whale song and the availability of food resources and may be further indicate changes in environmental conditions that impact the food web. John Ryan, a co-author of the study and biological oceanographer at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, is reported to say that whale song offers insight into how humpbacks adapt to ocean conditions. The information provides resource managers and policymakers with a tool with which to better protect whales.