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How do whales and elephants use low-frequency sounds to communicate across long distances?
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Learn about the propagation of sound waves from a point source by observing the motion of a suspended vibrating spring.
Whales and elephants utilize low-frequency sounds to communicate over vast distances because these signals are less susceptible to the attenuation and scattering that affect higher-frequency sounds. In physics, frequency is inversely related to wavelength; consequently, low-frequency sounds possess long wavelengths, allowing them to travel much farther than high-frequency sounds.123
- Elephants: These animals produce infrasonic calls (5–24 hertz) using a specialized larynx and a resonating pharyngeal pouch. These powerful calls can be detected by other elephants up to 4 km away. Because these low-frequency waves travel through both air and the ground, elephants can also detect them as seismic waves through their feet.4
- Whales: Baleen whales generate extremely low-frequency vocalizations (12.5–200 hertz) that are powerful enough to potentially travel across entire ocean basins. By moving to specific depths before vocalizing, whales can optimize the transmission of these signals, allowing them to be heard hundreds of kilometers away.51