Whales are best known for their massive size and the biggest among them are the baleen whales. Containing 16 different whale species, the biggest of the baleen whales — the blue whale — measures in at a staggering 31 meters (102 feet) and 190 tons (210 short tons). Even the smallest baleen whale, the pygmy right whale, is a not-inconsiderable 6 meters (20 feet) and 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb). Given these impressive statistics, one might expect whales to create vocal sounds so powerful that humans could hear them from miles away.
Instead, as a recent study for the journal Nature demonstrates, the opposite is in fact true. Indeed, the whale song is an ethereal and strange underwater ballad, but before this study it wasn't entirely clear which organs the whales used to make the sound. And although baleen whales have evolved very unique vocal cords to serve their particular needs, that evolutionary edge is no match for human activity ... specifically, noise pollution.
