Scientists studying sperm whales have identified the basic elements of their communication system, potentially paving the way for better protection of the mammals.
Scientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them. Like many whales and dolphins, sperm whales are highly social mammals and communicate by squeezing air through their respiratory systems to make strings of rapid clicks that can sound like an extremely loud zipper underwater.
We're now starting to find the first building blocks of whale language,' said David Gruber, founder and president of the Cetacean Translation Initiative or , an effort devoted to translating the communication of sperm whales. In a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers analyzed more than 8,700 snippets of sperm whale clicks, known as codas. They say they have found four basic components they think make up this phonetic alphabet. Pratyusha Sharma, the paper's lead researcher, said this alphabet could then be used by the whales in an unlimited number of combinations.
But when it comes to sperm whales, even that basic knowledge is lacking. 'What's new in this study is that they are trying to look at the basis for the whales' communication system ... not just particular calls they're making,' she said. Reiss, who was not involved in the new research, said she hoped we would one day be able to match the whales’ clicks to behavior.
founder Gruber said millions and possibly billions of whale codas would be needed to collect enough data to try to work out what the whales are saying, but he expects AI to help speed the analysis. He said other sperm whale populations — the whales are found in deep oceans from the Arctic to the Antarctic — likely communicate in slightly different ways.
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Scientists are learning the basic building blocks of sperm whale language after years of effortScientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them.
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Scientists are learning the basic building blocks of sperm whale language after years of effortScientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them.
Read more »
Scientists are learning the basic building blocks of sperm whale language after years of effortScientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them.
Read more »
Scientists are learning the basic building blocks of sperm whale language after years of effortScientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them
Read more »
Scientists learning basics of sperm whale language after years of effortIt's thought that the effort could one day help better protect them.
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