
Some whales sing low enough to be ‘acoustically invisible’ to predators: research
New research suggests male baleen whales looking for love sing a different tune when attracting a mate, and it all depends on if they are more likely to fight or flee from a predator.
Killer whales are the only natural predator of baleen whales — those that eat using a system in their mouths to sieve their plankton diet from the water.
Experts have divided baleen whales into two categories based on how they are likely to respond to killer whales.
The whales that travel in groups and are more likely to fight a killer whale, include right, bowhead, grey and humpback, while those that travel solo and are more prone to flight include blue, fin, sei, Bryde’s and minke whales.