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. The clicks are also used as a form of echolocation to help them track their prey. Scientists have been trying for decades to understand what those clicks might mean, with only minimal progress.
, 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.
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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