Sperm whales are marine mammals, the largest living toothed whales, which have long attracted the attention of scientists because of their complex social structure, high intelligence and unusual method of communication. In water, they make characteristic clicks, which at first glance are unremarkable. However, research has shown that animals use unique series of clicks to identify themselves. Now scientists have discovered that series of clicks lasting less than two seconds represent phonemes, that is, the minimal meaningful units of speech. This suggests that whales have their own language, consisting of a set of clicks, with the help of which they transmit information to each other.
Sperm whales have their own complex language of communication. Photo source: kolymastory.ru
How sperm whales use clicks to communicate
The language of sperm whales resembles coded messages created, for example, using Morse code. Therefore, the sounds of sperm whales are usually called “codes”. Codes are, in fact, similar to human words. For a long time they remained a mystery to scientists. To solve it, a team of researchers analyzed recordings of sounds made by 60 different sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) between 2005 and 2018. As a result, they identified nearly 9,000 different codes, that is, unique series of clicks.
Sperm whales transmit information to each other using a series of clicks. Photo source: wikipedia.org
As it turned out, they have a contextual and combinatorial structure. Simply put, the meaning of the code depends on the context of the conversation, and each code consists of several basic elements:
— rhythm – a sound pattern created by intervals;
— tempo – the speed of playback of clicks that determine the duration of the code;
— rubato – change the tempo of codes;
— ornaments – additional clicks to the main code, which give them expressiveness and uniqueness.
The complex language of sperm whales
According to the results of this study, published in the journal Nature Communications, a small set of coding elements allows sperm whales to create a large combination of distinct sounds, similar to phonemes in the human phonetic alphabet. As a result, they are able to create complex and unique messages with which they convey information to each other.
Large combinatorial vocalization systems are extremely rare in nature. But their use by sperm whales suggests that such communication is not at all a unique human ability. Moreover, some other creatures also have a combinatorial communication system.
Bees exchange information with each other through dancing. Photo source: alev.biz
For example, bees have long been known to convey messages to each other through dancing. In this way they provide information about the distance and direction to the food source. Some studies also show that bees report other information in this way, such as how much food they have found. However, sperm whales have a much more complex language. No other creature has yet been discovered to have a system consisting of contextual and combinatorial structure.
For example, scientists suggest that ornaments, that is, additional clicks, can function as a kind of “suffixes” or “prefixes” that change the meaning of the main code. Therefore, the study may be the first example of such complex communication in another species.
Sperm whales — the only known species that uses its complex language to communicate. Photo source: www.delfi.lt
Obviously, sperm whales need complex language in order to convey nuances of meaning. Perhaps this helps them coordinate their actions during the hunt. True, the language itself still remains a mystery to scientists. To decipher it, you will need to do a lot of research and observation. It may even be necessary to enter into a dialogue with the sperm whales. As a matter of fact, scientists have already entered into dialogue with whales.
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But, in any case, the results of this study force us to rethink our understanding of animal intelligence. It must be said that recently scientists have generally begun to reconsider their attitude towards living beings in principle. We recently reported that a group of scientists from different countries signed a declaration that all vertebrates, as well as cephalopods and even some species of insects, have consciousness.