Whales off central California did not suddenly go silent. A six-year study of underwater recordings found that detected whale song changed with ocean and food conditions: humpback detections rose steadily, while blue-whale detections fluctuated and then increased again.
The study measured songs detected by one fixed hydrophone, not every whale or every vocalization. Its findings cover one monitoring site through June 2021, not whales worldwide or what has happened since.
What the study measured
Published in PLOS One on February 26, 2025, the study analyzed passive acoustic recordings collected from 2015 through June 2021 at the Monterey Accelerated Research System, a cabled observatory in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The hydrophone was approximately 891 meters below the surface.
Researchers monitored songs from blue, fin, and humpback whales. A whale not detected by the hydrophone was not necessarily silent: it could have been outside the monitored area, migrating, feeding rather than singing, or producing sounds difficult to distinguish in the recording.
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What the recordings showed
Monitoring began in 2015, during the marine heatwave known as “the Blob.” That year had the lowest detected song levels for blue and humpback whales in the dataset. After 2015, song detection generally increased as the ecosystem recovered.
| Species | Pattern in detected song |
|---|---|
| Humpback whale | Detection rose continuously, from 34% to 76% of monitored days over the six-year period. |
| Blue whale | Detection rose substantially after 2015, fell during two later years, and increased again in 2021. |
| Fin whale | Detection rose sharply early in the study and then varied from year to year. |
All three species were detected singing more often at the end of the study than at its beginning. The results do not support a sudden collapse in whale song.
How food conditions may affect song detection
The researchers linked year-to-year changes in song detection with changing foraging conditions. Blue whales depend on krill, while humpback whales can feed on krill as well as small schooling fish such as anchovies and sardines.
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When prey is scarce or shifts location, whales may spend more time and energy searching for food, leaving less time for singing. They may also move away from a monitoring station, making their songs less likely to reach its hydrophone.
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What whale song can—and cannot—tell us
The study focused on baleen-whale song, not every sound whales make or every form of whale communication. In blue whales, males sing, so recordings cannot show whether every blue whale in the area was vocalizing.
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Acoustic monitoring is not a population survey. Fewer detected songs could reflect fewer whales nearby, changes in singing behavior, feeding or migration, distance from the sensor, or other factors. Interpreting those patterns requires evidence beyond a single hydrophone.
Why “suddenly going silent” is misleading
The study covered one monitoring location in the central California Current Ecosystem, and its dataset ended in June 2021. It cannot establish what whales are doing worldwide or provide evidence of a current 2026 collapse in whale vocalizations.
Instead, the findings show species-specific changes in song detection alongside changing ocean and food conditions. Humpback detections increased steadily, while blue-whale detections varied. The research does not establish that climate change silenced whales.
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FAQ
Have whales suddenly stopped singing?
No. The study found changing song detection at one California monitoring site, not a sudden or worldwide loss of whale song.
Did blue whales go silent after the marine heatwave?
No. Blue-whale song detection increased after 2015, fell during two later years, and increased again in 2021.
Why might a hydrophone detect fewer whale songs?
Whales may move farther from the sensor, migrate, spend more time feeding, or change their singing behavior. A fixed hydrophone cannot distinguish all these possibilities on its own.
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Does the study prove climate change stopped whales communicating?
No. The researchers linked song patterns with changing ecosystem and foraging conditions, but did not prove that climate change directly silenced whales.
Sources
Read the PLOS One study or the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute summary.
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