[Animals] The brain of belugas has a natural GPS built in and allows them to emit hundreds of different songs

[-𝓣𝓐𝓚𝓘]

Belugas' brains are contained in a spongy structure known as a 'melon', which allows them to talk to other whales and locate themselves in their habitat.
Beluga whales are known as the 'canaries of the sea'. This is so because they are the most expressive cetaceans, with the ability to produce a wider range of sounds. The most impressive thing is that they don't even have vocal cords. Unlike other species, this wide variety of sounds comes from the brain of belugas.

According to BBC Earth, these white whales communicate "through the nasal sacs located around their blowhole". Right in front of this hole, which serves as a respirator, belugas have a spongy structure known as a 'melon'. Right at the top of your head, this space receives direct instructions from your nervous system. That's how it works.

What is beluga melon used for?

The top of the beluga's forehead is smooth. Although it seems otherwise, it is spongy and can be molded. In fact, they themselves are capable of moving them according to their needs: in addition to serving as a container for the belugas' brain, the 'melon' conducts the sounds that these whales emit from their nasal cavities.

This is how the organization Whale and Dolphin Conservation explains it:

"BELUGAS MOVE THEIR MELONS TO FOCUS SOUNDS IN SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS," EXPLAINS THE INSTITUTION ON ITS OFFICIAL WEBSITE. “DURING WHALE VOCALIZATIONS, RESEARCHERS HAVE OBSERVED HOW THE MELONS CHANGED SHAPE.”

The belugas' 'melon' also serves as a natural GPS. This is because beluga brains are designed for echolocation: the resonant calls they make to find objects and communicate with each other. The soft forehead region focuses and projects these sound signals underwater.

Should this structure be touched?

In addition to this, according to the Polar Guidebook Arctic research platform, this organ "generates high and low frequency sounds to communicate, feed and travel". In addition, it is moldable because it is mainly made up of fat and soft tissue. On the internet, videos circulate in which certain caregivers crush this region of the head.

Although they are not actually touching their brain, which is located inside their skull, animals are sentient beings. Many times, these actions stress the whales, which already, when they are in captivity, live in small spaces that do not correspond to their dimensions. "Reconsider your actions before crushing the head of a whale," concludes the institution.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/como-funciona-el-cerebro-de-las-belugas/