Richard Robinson

Whales sing more when there’s oodles of food around, researchers have discovered.

A team based at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute analysed whalesong picked up on hydrophones in the nutrient-rich seas off California. The first tapes were from 2015, when a marine heatwave was decimating the food web. That year, humpback whales sang on only about one-third of days, but as krill rebounded, followed by another humpback favourite, anchovies, singing picked up accordingly. After six years, the humpbacks were singing on 76 per cent of days.

Blue whales and fin whales in the area followed similar patterns, singing more when the sea was brimming with krill.

The researchers peeled away other possible variables, but the relationship between food and music stuck. As eating enough to fuel those massive bodies gets easier, the researchers suggest, there’s simply more time for singing.