21 September 2026: A new study on bowhead whales’ capacity for sound imitation

A study by Llobet and colleagues, titled “Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) are copycats, imitating sounds heard in their environment”, was published in the journal Polar Research in April 2026.

The bowhead whale is among the marine mammals with the most developed vocalisations, together with species such as the humpback whale and the killer whale. Bowhead whales produce songs mainly from October to April, peaking with the breeding season during the winter. Unlike the humpback whale, it is known to change its song structure continuously, meaning that a song first generated in autumn might not be used by springtime.

Llobet and colleagues analysed bowhead whale acoustics recorded in north-east Svalbard, Norway, when they discovered several cases of bowheads imitating sounds from their environment. For that purpose, the scientists performed spectral correlation analysis, a method that allows finding relationships between different sound types, to detect patterns and compare the similarities of the bowhead whale vocalisations to bearded seal calls.

Scientist observed a very distinctive bearded seal vocalisation known as long trill, a call associated with male bearded seals during mating in spring. However, these long trill calls were detected in early winter with a repeated structure. This repetitive pattern allowed the researchers to attribute the recordings to bowhead whale songs rather than bearded seal vocalisations.

The acoustic recordings also seemed to include sounds of narwhal pulsed calls and noise produced by sea ice. However, the authors couldn’t confirm whether bowheads were imitating them.

The reason behind these imitation attempts might be linked to the bowhead whale’s mating behaviour. Male bowhead whales sing to attract females during the breeding season, and their songs continuously evolve as the whales age. Higher song complexity might serve as indicators of the individual’s fitness. Therefore, bowhead whales might be attempting to improve their chances of attracting a partner by incorporating new vocalisations from their environment. The authors highlight the need for more research on the role of imitation and complex vocal learning for the species, to better understand their ecology.

You can read the full paper by Llobet et al here: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v45.12562

Photo credit: Camilla Ilmoni