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Sound as Pressure Waves

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Sound waves, which are longitudinal waves, can be modeled as the displacement amplitude varying as a function of the spatial and temporal coordinates. As a column of the medium is displaced, its successive columns are also displaced. As the successive displacements differ relatively, a pressure difference with the surrounding pressure is created. The gauge pressure varies across the medium.
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Sound waves can be thought of as fluctuations in the pressure of a medium through which they propagate. Since the pressure also makes the medium's particles vibrate along its direction of motion, the waves can be modeled as the displacement of the medium's particles from their mean position.
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Environmental DNA Sampling from Whale-Watching Vessels for Cetacean Monitoring

Environmental DNA Sampling from Whale-Watching Vessels for Cetacean Monitoring

Published on: April 10, 2026

Sound production by singing humpback whales.

Eduardo Mercado¹, Jennifer N Schneider, Adam A Pack

¹Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. emiii@buffalo.edu

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|April 8, 2010

Summary

Humpback whale songs reveal a flexible sound production system, similar to human singers. Analyzing these whale vocalizations offers new insights into their complex communication methods.

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Area of Science:

Marine biology
Bioacoustics
Animal communication

Background:

Humpback whale songs are complex and their sound production mechanisms are not fully understood.
Previous research has categorized whale vocalizations into discrete units, potentially oversimplifying their production.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the mechanisms of sound production in humpback whale songs.
To explore the variability and continuum of sounds within humpback whale vocalizations.

Main Methods:

Analysis of sound recordings from humpback whale songs.
Examination of spectral content and nonlinear sound features.
Comparison of vocal production with other species like false killer whales and human singers.

Main Results:

Humpback whale songs exhibit a continuum from discrete pulses to continuous tones.
This graded vocal repertoire suggests sound production via tension modulation of vibrating membranes, similar to human singers.
Resonating air chambers likely contribute to sound production, influencing spectral and nonlinear features.

Conclusions:

Categorizing whale song units into discrete types may obscure the nuances of sound modulation.
A production-based characterization of humpback whale vocalizations provides deeper insights into their singing capabilities.
The findings highlight a flexible sound production system in humpback whales, comparable to other complex vocal learners.