How does whale communication work? - David Gruber and Shane Gero
In the mid-1800s,
soon after American whaling ships
began operating in the North Pacific,
an interesting trend emerged.
Whalers saw a 58% drop in their successful
strikes within just a few years.
Sperm whales in the region had
suddenly become much harder to kill.
Generally, when predators
like orcas are nearby,
sperm whales protect their most vulnerable
by forming defensive circles
at the surface.
But this behavior made them
susceptible to whaling ships.
It seems that sperm whales
in the North Pacific
were somehow able to quickly
adapt to this reality.
Groups that likely hadn’t yet experienced
human attacks
began escaping whaling boats
on fast currents
instead of forming defensive circles.
And, based on what we’re starting
to understand about sperm whales,
it seems possible they were actually
broadcasting survival strategies
to one another.
Indeed, unbeknownst to whalers,
spermaceti, the material they killed for,
is an essential part of the sperm whale’s
sophisticated communication
and echolocation system.
This waxy substance fills a cavity
in the sperm whale’s head.
And their head is mostly comprised
of an expanded nose
that serves as a highly calibrated
sonar system.
Sperm whales generate some of the loudest
biological noises on record,
communicate copiously using
an array of complex vocalization styles,
and have the largest brains on Earth.
They spend most of their time searching
the ocean's depths for prey.
They can stay submerged for over an hour,
and dive deeper than 1,200 meters,
far beyond sunlight’s reach,
where they’re guided by sound.
The loudest noise recorded underwater
is around 270 decibels.
Sperm whale-generated sounds
can reach 230.
And they frequently fix
their high-intensity echolocation clicks
on squid.
Some of the air they inhale through their
blowhole is routed into their lungs,
while the rest enters a complex,
sound-producing system.
There, air is funneled through lip-like
appendages at the front of their heads.
This generates a sound that travels
backwards through their spermaceti organ,
bounces off an air sac,
then traverses another waxy organ,
which amplifies and directs the sound.
The click exits the sperm whale’s head
a powerful, focused beam.
It’s suspected that
the returning vibrations
are received by the whale’s lower jaw
and directed into the ears.
Then, their brain’s expanded
auditory processing region
analyzes the quality of the echoes
to map their surroundings in the darkness.
With this mechanism, sperm whales
can locate squid 300 meters away.
Scientists think squid don’t hear
these high-frequency clicks—
even as they turn into rapid buzzes
and creaks as the whale closes in.
Sperm whales can eat more than a ton
of squid every day.
Their stomachs and feces are usually
full of indigestible squid beaks,
and their skin often scarred
by squid tentacles.
When they're not hunting, however,
sperm whales use an entirely
different vocal repertoire.
Mature males make clang noises,
which scientists suspect play a role
in mating.
And most other sperm whales live
in social family groups.
Though their communication might get
interrupted when predators are near
or human-generated noises dominate,
they generally chatter at length
at the water’s surface.
Sperm whales do this using patterned click
sequences akin to Morse code,
called codas,
which are thought to function
as social identity markers.
Researchers have identified dozens
of distinct types of codas,
according to patterns in the numbers
of clicks used and their rhythm and tempo.
Some codas are more ubiquitous, while others vary greatly according to family groups and individuals. All families in a given region that consistently use some of the same characteristic coda patterns share a dialect and belong to the same vocal clan. Each sperm whale calf goes through a multi-year period of babbling, where they experiment with different sounds before becoming fluent in their clan’s coda dialect. How and what exactly sperm whales communicate to each other is currently unknown, but there are indications that the information can be sophisticated. Biologists, roboticists, linguists, cryptographers, and artificial intelligence experts are collaborating to monitor and analyze sperm whale vocalizations. The aim is to finally decipher what they're saying.
Some codas are more ubiquitous, while others vary greatly according to family groups and individuals. All families in a given region that consistently use some of the same characteristic coda patterns share a dialect and belong to the same vocal clan. Each sperm whale calf goes through a multi-year period of babbling, where they experiment with different sounds before becoming fluent in their clan’s coda dialect. How and what exactly sperm whales communicate to each other is currently unknown, but there are indications that the information can be sophisticated. Biologists, roboticists, linguists, cryptographers, and artificial intelligence experts are collaborating to monitor and analyze sperm whale vocalizations. The aim is to finally decipher what they're saying.
