ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Language Arts Videos 84 videos
ELA Drills, Beginner: Point of View. Is the statement in the video true or false?
Whales are great, but when we asked them to tell us a little bit about themselves, all they said was, “Weeeeeeoooooooohhhhhhhh.” So we’re goi...
ELA Drills, Beginner: Meanings 1. Use context clues from the text to find the answer.
ELA 3: Echolocation and Whale Songs 20 Views
Share It!
Description:
Unlike whales, humans unfortunately can't detect the location of objects by emitting sound. So...stop screeching at the couch. It doesn't know where you left your keys.
Transcript
- 00:02
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
Whales communicate with one another, just like humans do. [Whales speaking to each other]
- 00:16
Okay, maybe with a little less texting... [Whales using mobile phones]
- 00:18
How do they do it?
- 00:19
By using something called “echolocation.”
Full Transcript
- 00:21
Echolocation is when whales make sounds that are reflected back to them when it bounces [Coop pointing at a blackboard]
- 00:26
off of another object.
- 00:27
Like when you shout into a canyon. [Boy shouts into a canyon]
- 00:30
Echolocation is very important because it helps whales hunt, navigate in the water, [Whales holding a gun, reading a map and holding a phone]
- 00:34
and uh…just conduct interesting chit-chat.
- 00:36
There are two types of whales—toothed whales and baleen whales—and they communicate differently.
- 00:42
Toothed whales, such as the killer whale, use echolocation for hunting and navigating…
- 00:46
…but baleen whales, such as humpback whales, use deep sounds that sound like songs to communicate [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
- 00:51
with each other.
- 00:52
If you ever see a whale performing at a karaoke bar, dollars to donuts it’s a baleen whale. [Whale singing into a microphone]
- 00:57
So…what exactly are whale songs and why are they important?
- 01:00
Well, first of all, no one’s doing Celine Dion covers down there. [Whale next to the sunken Titanic]
- 01:03
We’re actually talking about sounds like groans, moans, roars, and even high pitched
- 01:08
squeaks.
- 01:09
Each whale song can last 10 minutes or longer. [Whale singing on stage]
- 01:11
Queen would be jealous. [Freddie Mercury appears]
- 01:12
Whales use these songs to communicate—to find other whales, warn each other of predators,
- 01:17
and find their way in the ocean.
- 01:19
And…to keep themselves occupied in the shower. [Whale singing in the shower]
- 01:21
Humans have to use special technology in order to hear many of these whale songs. [Man wearing headphones and holding a microphone]
- 01:25
Our ears actually cannot hear most of them, because they are very, very low in pitch. [Old man trying to speak to a whale]
- 01:29
Plus, they’re even harder to hear when a singing whale has its driver’s side window [Whale in a car]
- 01:33
rolled up…
Related Videos
ELA Drills, Beginner: Point of View. Is the statement in the video true or false?
ELA Drills, Beginner: Textual Analysis 1. The purpose of the instruction manual was...what?
ELA Drills, Beginner: Point of View 3. Which sentence in the passage best shows the narrator's point of view on the topic of Chelsea Simpson?
We wanted to make a video about sedentary rocks, but we couldn't get lazy uncle Rocky off the couch. Oh well. We'll teach you about sedimentary roc...
Today we're bringing you the opposite of Jurassic Park—how living things become fossils. Okay okay, it might not be quite as fun...but hey, at le...