Scientists using AI have found sperm whales can vary the tempo, rhythm and length of their click sequences, creating a richer communication system than realized.
Scientists have accomplished a whale of a feat. They’ve identified previously unknown complexity in whale communication by analyzing thousands of recorded sequences of sperm whale clicks with artificial intelligence. Variations in tempo, rhythm and length of the whales’ click sequences, called codas, weave a rich acoustic tapestry. These variables hint that whales can combine click patterns in multiple ways, mixing and matching phrases to convey a broad range of information to one another.
Prior research had identified 150 types of codas in sperm whales worldwide, but the Caribbean whales used just 21 of those codas. The scientists examined the timing and frequency of 8,719 coda sequences — in solitary whale utterances, in choruses and in call-and-response exchanges between whales. When visualized with artificial intelligence, previously unseen coda patterns emerged. The study authors defined four features in codas: rhythm, tempo, rubato and ornamentation.
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