Why do whales sing?

The sounds made by humpback whales have a complex structure of repeated themes, like songs. They are among the most elaborate in the animal world.

Pilot whales are toothed whales and produce various sounds. They are very social animals and use whistles to communicate with each other. They use clicks to find food.

Killer whales produce a wide range of sounds - including pulsed calls, clicks, and whistles.

Killer whales probably use the whistle sounds to communicate with each other. The clicking sounds, as with all toothed whales, are for echolocation.

What do you do if you discover a stranding?

The first thing to do is ring the Department of Conservation. They know what to do! It helps them if you can tell them exactly where you are and the size and number of animals.

Whale of a cause - Help us help whales

During the exhibition, you could donate to Te Papa's Whale Stranding Research Programme and help us help whales by downloading a whale ringtone or wallpaper to your mobile phone.

**Ringtones:**

**Wallpapers**

WHERE DID YOUR DONATION GO?

All donations, after minimal direct cost, will go to Te Papa's Whale Stranding Research Programme.

Te Papa has been studying whales since 1865 and has one of the largest whale collections in the world. We are a hub of whale research in the South Pacific, a contributor to global knowledge, and a specialist in rare and unusual whales.

Yet surprisingly little is known about whales worldwide. For example, new species are still being found - including one last year. We need to know more about them - how they breed, feed, travel - to better protect them.

Your donation will help us do this. As a country, New Zealand has more strandings, and more strandings of unusual whale species, than anywhere else in the world. Our ability to use these strandings to learn more about whales is currently minimal - you can help us do more.

Watch Anton van Helden speak about the work of the Te Papa Marine Mammal team.

THANKS:
Thanks to Mark Johnson, Ellen Garland and Patrick Miller for the sound recordings.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY
TelstraClear have kindly made this initiative possible for the Whales Tohorā exhibition. TelstraClear has been a Founding Corporate Associate of Te Papa since 1997. This ten year partnership has been a resounding success with TelstraClear being the key enabler of Te Papa's telecommunications solutions.