Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Pulsed-Air Model Of Blue Whale B Call Vocalizations, R. P. Dziak, J. H. Haxel, T-K. Lau, S. Heimlich, Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach, D. K. Mellinger, H. Matsumoto, B. Mate

Geology Faculty Publications

Blue whale sound production has been thought to occur by Helmholtz resonance via air flowing from the lungs into the upper respiratory spaces. This implies that the frequency of blue whale vocalizations might be directly proportional to the size of their sound-producing organs. Here we present a sound production mechanism where the fundamental and overtone frequencies of blue whale B calls can be well modeled using a series of short-duration (<1 >s) wavelets. We propose that the likely source of these wavelets are pneumatic pulses caused by opening and closing of respiratory valves during air recirculation between the lungs and …