As canções que fazem sucesso entre as baleias:top online casinos nz

Legenda do vídeo, As canções que fazem sucesso entre as baleias

The story…

The changing sound of whale song

Singing and songwriting

Need-to-know language

tunes – melodies, usually easy to remember

singing from the same song sheet – (idiom) showing unity and agreement; co-operating

embellishments – elements added to something to make it more attractive, interesting or exciting

start from scratch – start from a point where nothing has been done

musical repertoire – list of songs a singer or musician knows how to sing or play

Answer this…

How long have the scientists studied the whales?

Watch the video online

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/lingohack/ep-190206

Transcript

Humpback whales are known for their haunting songs, and much like human tunes, they can quickly spread until all whales in the group are singing from the same song sheet.

This signature song evolves gradually over time as individual males add embellishments and others copy. Seen here off the east coast of Australia, this is what the whales were singing two years later. But every now and then a song completely disappears from the oceans and is replaced by something new in what scientists call a 'revolution event'.

Dr Jenny Allen, Honorary Research Fellow at Queensland University

Normally, when the song is evolving kind of through gradual changes, you can hear the songs from one year to the next and hear the similarities. But with a revolution, the song is completely different. They essentially start from scratch with a revolution.

Researchers studied whales over 13 years. They found that when they changed their tune, the new ballads were always more simple.

Dr Jenny Allen, Honorary Research Fellow at Queensland University

What this tells us is that there might be some kind of limitation to that learning. So there might be some kind of cap either in terms of how complex a thing they can learn or how much new material they can learn at one time.

And that could explain how the crooners of the sea adapt and change their songs, ensuring their musical repertoire stands the test of time.

Did you get it?

How long have the scientists studied the whales?

They have studied the whales for over 13 years.