In the 2003 film Finding Nemo, the character of Dory is portrayed as a high-energy, extroverted, amnesia-ridden Blue Tang fish who cannot be relied on for anything more than companionship. However, at one point in the film, she encounters a large blue whale of whom she attempts to communicate with by stringing together an arrangement of random words and sounds (Video #1). While the scene is meant to be exaggerated, actual (unanimated) aquatic species use various arrangements of sound for communication. But how does communication happen underwater?
Video 1: Clip from the 2003 film Finding Nemo where Dory (blue fish) is attempting to communicate with a whale (Time: 46s to 1.03s) (Finding Nemo, 2007).
Various species of marine life, including fish and whales, use sound communication for mating, social interaction, predator avoidance, feeding and many other activities (Erbe et al., 2016; Ladich, 2019). Like human speech, aquatic species also have their own ‘languages’ for communication. These languages change depending on who is communicating and what the intended source is. For example, sperm whales have their own unique dialect when communicating among their own clan, yet use other dialects for communication with other clans and species (NOAA, 2021). Depending on its intended source, the frequency and pitch of sound emitted will change. But how does this communication reach the intended audience?
Sound communication is done using a series of vibrations in an elastic medium (i.e., water and air) which compresses and decompresses water molecules (Ladich and Winkler, 2017; NOAA, 2021). Essentially, sound travels through a series of mechanical waves, transferring energy from the sound source (in the case of Finding Nemo, Dory) to the sound receiver (the whale). During this process, sound waves radiate in a spherical direction (Figure 1), allowing individuals on every side of the source to receive sound signals. These signals are then detected by changes in pressure on ear structures of aquatic life (NOAA, 2021). Depending on the frequency of sound emitted, only certain species will be able to hear the sound produced, and of those, only a select few are able to understand the dialect.
Figure 1: Method of sound signal distribution underwater. The original sound is released from its source, in this case Dory, and vibrates radially reaching its intended audience, in this case the whale. As distance increases, sound is diminished.
As signal distance between source and receiver lengthens and sound frequency exits audible ranges, a reduction of sound intensity can also be noted (Peng et al., 2015). This is called propagation loss (PL). PL is also affected by external sound pollution in the oceans due to boats, sonar, drilling, extreme weather and more (Figure 2). Think about walking past a loud construction site while talking to a friend, it is likely difficult to hear the immediate conversation let alone one’s farther away. In essence, this is what is happening underwater; sound waves emitted from aquatic life and interfered with by anthropogenic sounds waves. This interference disrupts vital communications needed for predator avoidance, reproduction, feeding and species interactions (maybe that is why Dory was annunciating and exaggerating her speaking!).
While you may not be able to hear these sub-water communications, they are prevalent and an extremely interesting topic of study, especially when sound pollution and anthropogenic effects are considered. Current research into mitigating these effects is ongoing, but knowledge is the first step. Maybe Disney movies can teach us more than just earworm songs.
References
Erbe, C., Reichmuth, C., Cunningham, K., Lucke, K. and Dooling, R., 2016. Communication masking in marine mammals: A review and research strategy. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 103(1), pp.15–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.12.007.
Finding Nemo (Dory speaking ‘whale’). 2007. Velandrra Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJGeeryk0Eo> [Accessed 25 Oct. 2021].
Ladich, F., 2019. Ecology of sound communication in fishes. Fish and Fisheries (Oxford, England), 20(3), pp.552–563. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12368.
Ladich, F. and Winkler, H., 2017. Acoustic communication in terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates. Journal of Experimental Biology, 220(13), pp.2306–2317. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.132944.
New evidence that sperm whales form clans with diverse cultures, languages | Ars Technica. [online] Available at: <https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/06/new-evidence-that-sperm-whales-form-clans-with-diverse-cultures-languages/> [Accessed 25 Oct. 2021].
NOAA 2021. [online] Available at: <https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/sound01/background/acoustics/acoustics.html> [Accessed 25 Oct. 2021].
Peng, C., Zhao, X. and Liu, G., 2015. Noise in the Sea and Its Impacts on Marine Organisms. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(10), pp.12304–12323. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph121012304.
Shipping and underwater radiated noise (Image) | SSPA. [online] Available at: <https://www.sspa.se/shipping-and-underwater-radiated-noise> [Accessed 25 Oct. 2021].
Comments
17 Responses to “Whale Hello There”
Hello iSci,
I chose to do this topic after watching Tangled with some of my housemates and the conversation about the scientific accuracy of Rapunzel’s hair carrying all Mother Gothel’s weight came up. Afterwards, I was curious to see how scientifically accurate Disney movies are. After some research, I came across the scene from Finding Nemo and wanted to learn more, hence this blog post. I had a lot of fun writing this one and integrating some concepts from both first and second year. I hope you enjoy it and can’t wait to read your feedback.
-Sarah
Hi Sarah!
I love your blog post! The topic is so interesting and I really like how you used Dory as an example. The figures you used really helped in explaining your concepts. I have a few suggestions for you below.
1) You cite Anon (2021) quite a few times throughout your blog post. I would suggest avoiding sources that have an unknown author. If you still wanted to use this source, maybe you could put NOAA as the author rather than Anon.
2) I would suggest adding more to your conclusion. Perhaps you could add a bit more as to why knowledge on this topic is important.
3) In the third sentence of paragraph 1, I would suggest changing “different” to “various”. At first, I read the sentence as communication between actual aquatic species is much different than what is displayed in the film. So, I would suggest using a different word.
Overall, great blog post! I look forward to reading the final version.
– Lauren
Hey Lauren,
Thanks for your comment! Unfortunately it was difficult to find a different source with that specific information, but I’ll definitely change the Anon to NOAA, thanks for the idea. I also don’t have enough word count to expand much more on the conclusion but I did add another sentence with your suggestion.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah!
This is an interesting blog post. I enjoyed learning more about sound communication underwater. Here are a few things I wanted to comment on, some of which might help you when editing your blog post.
1. I liked how you increased reader accessibility by using Dory and the Whale as analogies. Really creative!
2. In the first sentence of your third paragraph, you mention an example of water and air. It’s minor, but I don’t think there’s a comma after ie.
3. In your final sentence of your third paragraph, you mention, “…certain species will be able to hear communication, and out of those, only a select…” And I think perhaps a removing “out” would help this flow better.
4. For your in-text citations, you can leave them as (Peng at al., 2015), keeping in mind that A) you don’t need to include the author’s first initial, and B) “al.” is short for “alia”, so you should indicate this with a period.
Overall, I thought this was a creative and original blog post. The embedded video was a neat touch – I’ve not seen that before! Best of luck with the editing process.
Best,
Aoife H
Hello Aoife,
Thanks for reading my post and for commenting! I did actually have a comma after “i.e.,” and a period after “al” but thanks for double checking. Thanks for your citation notes too, I made sure to remove the first initials and fixed the wording of the sentence you pointed out.
Thanks again,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
I really enjoyed reading your post! I loved how you included the video of Dory speaking “whale”. The post was very well written as it was easy to understand and creative.
Some Suggestions:
1. In the third paragraph, I would suggest mentioning the Dory scenario again before saying ” transferring energy from the sound source (Dory) to the sound receiver (the whale)” You could write “In the context of Dory and the whale,” Or, you could explain early on that the entire post will be referring to Dory’s whale impressions.
2. In the third paragraph when you write “only certain species will be able to hear communication” I think the usage of the word communication is a bit awkward. Instead, I would suggest writing “the sound produced” or “this form of communication” in place of the word “communication”
Overall amazing work! I look forward to reading the final post!
Hello Keira,
Thank you for your comments and for reading my post, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I did manage to fix the re-introduction of the Dory-Whale example, so I hope it cleared things up a bit. I also took your suggestion and altered the wording of the sentence you highlighted.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
This is such a cool blog post! The title is attention-grabbing and the fact that you tied in Finding Nemo makes everything even more interesting. Here are a few things I noticed while reading:
– In your first paragraph, consider rewording the second half of the first sentence: “… Blue Tang fish who cannot be relied on for anything more than companionship.” It could just be me, but I think that might make a bit more sense.
– In the next sentence, I believe that saying “with whom she tries to communicate” would be more appropriate than “of whom she attempts to communicate with”.
– The first sentence of your second paragraph feels a little bit vague. Maybe re-structure the way you list things, for example: “Various species of marine life, including fish and whales, use sound communication for mating, social interaction, predator avoidance, and feeding.”
– At the end of your second paragraph, I don’t think you need to say “correct and intended”, just saying “intended” is a bit more concise and still communicates the same message.
Once again, great job on this post! I hope my feedback helps and I look forward to reading the final revision. Happy editing!
Andrew
Hey Andrew,
I’m glad you enjoyed the blog post and thank you for all the suggestions. I’m pretty sure I accepted all, if not most, of your suggestions and I think they really helped with clarification and flow.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
I found your blog post very interesting! I never put the idea of sound pollution and aquatic species together.
Here are just a few things I would tweak,
1. Regarding the fourth sentence in the second paragraph, I felt that the second half of the sentence , “For example, sperm whales have their own unique dialect, which is exclusively used among their own clan, yet have other dialects that are used for communication with other species (Anon, 2021)” was worded awkwardly. I feel that if you split it up into two sentence it would make more sense. I suggest, “For example, sperm whales are known to have their own unique dialect, which is exclusively used among their own clan. Moreover, they are also able to communicate with a multitude of whale species via other dialects.” You can even say they are bilingual to through some humour into it!
2. I agree with Andrew’s comment about the first sentence. I feel it can be phrased better to flow into the second sentence. Maybe even change, “amnesia-ridden Blue Tang fish” to the proper biological nomenclature used for that species!
3. Lastly, I feel you can add more to the “big idea” by discussing the implications/negative effects of sound pollution in the ocean. I understand that it blocks their abilities to communicate effectively, but how does this affect their, “mating, social interaction, predator avoidance, feeding” activities?
Overall, I thought this was a really great discussion post! I look forward to reading the final draft!
Cheers,
Julia
Hi Julia,
Thanks for your comment and for reading my blog post! While I didn’t integrate the humor you suggested (I did love the idea though!) I took your advice about rearranging that sentence, so thanks for the note. Regarding the big idea at the end of the post, while I wish I could add more, but I don’t have the word count to do so. Although upon suggestion by you, and others, I did add one more sentence expanding upon the ending so I hope that helps a bit.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah!
I really found it fascinating how you connected the form of communication used by aquatic species to Dory’s character in Finding Nemo!
These are a few suggestions I had while reading your post:
1) When talking about the signals that detect changes in pressure on ear structures of aquatic life, I think a good idea would be to include a specific comparison between two species of aquatic life to showcase their differences in signal detection when communicating.
2) In your fourth paragraph when you mention: “In essence, this is what is happening underwater. Sound waves emitted from aquatic life and interfered with by anthropogenic sounds waves.” I think the second sentence sounds like a fragment, so you might want to consider joining the two sentences with a semi-colon or just re-wording the second sentence.
Overall, the topic you chose was very interesting to read about especially because I did not have as much knowledge regarding sound communication amongst aquatic species. I look forward to reading your final draft!
Mehreen
Hello Mehreen,
Thanks for reading my post and for all the great notes. I did take your note about the sentence fragment in the fourth paragraph, however, due to wordcount I wasn’t able to add another example of two species with different signal detection.
Thanks again,
Sarah
Hello!
This is a great blog post! Your reference to a commonly loved Disney movie keeps it creative and really interesting. I have a few suggestions for you:
1. When citing two authors in text you do not need a comma between them. Eg. (Ladich, and Winkler, 2017) should be (Ladich and Winkler, 2017)
2. I wonder if you can find another source that isn’t anonymously written to cite some of your facts? Only because you use it frequently throughout the post.
3. I agree with Julia about really emphasizing the bigger picture and possible consequences of sound pollution in the concluding paragraph. This may help to drive in the significance of what you’re saying.
This was a great post and I’m excited to see what else you write!
Cheers,
Carly
Hey Carly,
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I did take your suggestions about the in-text citations and attempted to minimize the amount of times I cited Anon, thanks for the suggestions. I did add one more sentence regarding the posts significance, but unfortunately, due to wordcount wasn’t able to expand much more. I hope the sentence managed to clarify and expand on as much as possible.
Thanks for your comments,
Sarah
Hi,
I loved the premise of your blog post, just a few suggestions to improve it:
1. Maybe use the site name instead of ‘Anon (2021)’ for your citations
2. The ‘As distance increases, sound is diminished.’ In your first figure caption isn’t italicized like the rest
3. If you still have bit of room in your word count maybe expand on the conclusion a bit
Hope this helps,
Nyah D.
Hello Nyah,
Thanks for reading my post and for all of your comments. Thanks for catching that unitalicized portion of the figure caption, I totally missed it! I did also fix up the Anon sources. Although I would love to expand more on the conclusion, wordcount prevented too much more expansion so I hope the few changes I did make helped.
Thanks,
Sarah