How “Fight or Flight” May Affect Marine Mammal Vocalizations

Orca (Orcinus orca) in Haines, Alaska, United States. Photo credit: Christopher Michel

Scientists have proposed several hypotheses, including fight or flight (Ford & Reeves, 2008), for how killer whale (Orcinus orca) predation has influenced baleen whales and broader ecosystems.

Southern right whales have a robust body shape, with girth sometimes exceeding 60% of total body length. Image © State of Victoria (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning).

Species considered on the “fight” list include “North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), southern right whales (Eubalaena australis), bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), and gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) (Branch, 2025).” These species will stay and defend their calves if attacked by killer whales.

The fight species have a range of common characteristics (slow-swimming and maneuverable, thicker bodies often with encrustations) and behaviors (coordinated group defense, migrate in shallow water keeping calves close) to defend against killer whale (also called orca) attacks.

Since fight species rely on these common characteristics as protection against killer whales, they have less of a need to hide acoustically, yet they still employ this tactic, called acoustic crypsis – a behavioral adaptation to reduce detection by other animals in their vicinity, including predators. Orcas cannot detect any sounds <100 Hz and can only detect higher intensity sounds between 100 and 1500 Hz. “A review of baleen whale calling frequencies and source levels reveals that although all species are capable of acoustic crypsis, most fight populations produce calls at >1500 Hz (Branch, 2025).” Therefore, their vocalizations are easily detectable by killer whales and they seem to rely on other behaviors to protect themselves from orcas.

Species on the “flight” list include blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis), common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), and Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni) (Branch, 2025).

Flight species have streamlined bodies adapted for speed to avoid predation. They can swim quickly over sustained periods of time. Orcas pursuing flight species will need to expend a great deal of energy in a “prolonged high-speed pursuit” (Ford & Reeves, 2008), which can be a defense against killer whale attacks. However, flight species must also expend a lot of energy in their flight, and if a flight species is overtaken during the pursuit, they can do little to defend themselves.

Therefore, flight species might have more need to hide acoustically, utilizing frequencies orcas cannot detect.

A sei whale at the surface. Note the animal’s long body- due to their body length, researchers usually only capture a picture of a sei whale’s back (with dorsal fin), or its head, rarely both together. Image courtesy of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

In a recent peer-reviewed publication (Branch 2025), data presented provide support for the hypothesis that “flight species are more acoustically cryptic than fight species.” In the graphs below, Branch presents the relationship of call frequencies between baleen whale size (maximum length of each taxon), and the upper, median, and lower frequency (Hz) of their calls.

FIGURE 1 Frequency range of calls made by baleen whale populations. Colors represent “fight” species (red), “flight” species (blue), and “unknown” reactions to killer whale attacks (orange). Thinner lines represent the entire frequency range, and thicker lines the peak frequency range. Dashed lines represent the approximate auditory range of killer whales: no hearing (<100 Hz), poor hearing (100–1500 Hz), and better hearing (>1500 Hz).

With the comparison made by Branch, a pattern can be seen where fight species primarily utilize upper frequencies audible to killer whales, while flight species generally vocalize at frequencies below killer whale hearing range.

DOSITS Links

Animals and Sound > Advanced Topics in Animals > Specialized Sounds in Cetacean Communication

Audio Gallery > Blue Whale

Audio Gallery > Fin Whale

Audio Gallery > North Atlantic Right Whale

Audio Gallery > Southern Right Whale

Audio Gallery > Bowhead Whale

Audio Gallery > Humpback Whale

Audio Gallery > Gray Whale

Audio Gallery > Sei Whale

Audio Gallery > Common Minke Whale

Audio Gallery > Bryde’s Whale

Audio Gallery > Killer Whale, Orca

Additional Resources
NOAA, Why do whales make sounds?

Discover, Some Baleen Whales Sing at Low Frequency to Avoid Killer Whale Attacks

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