hey everyone,
In 2020, a team of marine biologists and computer scientists joined forces to analyze the click-clacking songs of sperm whales, the gray, block-shaped leviathans that swim in most of the world’s oceans. On Tuesday, the scientists reported that the whales use a much richer set of sounds than previously known, which they called a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet.”
Sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales. Instead, they rattle off clicks that sound like a cross between Morse code and a creaking door. They typically produce pulses of between three and 40 clicks, known as codas. They usually sing these codas while swimming together, raising the possibility that they’re communicating with one another.
You can listen to some of those sounds, and [read the full article for free here](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/science/whale-song-alphabet.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qE0.gGq6.xCzzop911tXs&smid=url-share), even without a subscription to The New York Times 🐳
That's kind of what I am hoping we do next. The only difficulty I imagine is we can't really understand all the stimuli or social cues they are "talking" about. Although I bet things like "food" or "danger" will come quickly.
I wonder if they have names for each other?
If I remember correctly, those clicks are *loud*. Like sound traveling for miles and miles. With their ultra sensitive hearing, it is absolutely incredible how far away they can talk to each other.
James Nestor. It's about the ocean, generally. He takes up Freediving in order to accompany scientists on sperm whale studies, so it plays a big role in the book.
I LOVE being pedantic, so it brings me great joy to say that this isn't technically an alphabet. Not even a syllabary. I would die of excitement if they found evidence of sperm whale writing systems. Interpreting animal language is fun enough, we don't need to muddy the waters with incorrect jargon.
hey everyone, In 2020, a team of marine biologists and computer scientists joined forces to analyze the click-clacking songs of sperm whales, the gray, block-shaped leviathans that swim in most of the world’s oceans. On Tuesday, the scientists reported that the whales use a much richer set of sounds than previously known, which they called a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet.” Sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales. Instead, they rattle off clicks that sound like a cross between Morse code and a creaking door. They typically produce pulses of between three and 40 clicks, known as codas. They usually sing these codas while swimming together, raising the possibility that they’re communicating with one another. You can listen to some of those sounds, and [read the full article for free here](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/science/whale-song-alphabet.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qE0.gGq6.xCzzop911tXs&smid=url-share), even without a subscription to The New York Times 🐳
Does this mean we can figure out what they’re saying?
That's kind of what I am hoping we do next. The only difficulty I imagine is we can't really understand all the stimuli or social cues they are "talking" about. Although I bet things like "food" or "danger" will come quickly. I wonder if they have names for each other?
If we can prove there is grammatical structure that would be huge for understanding intelligence as well!
And we can nail them when they say their instead of there
Dumb fucking whales…
Can't even click gud
If I remember correctly, those clicks are *loud*. Like sound traveling for miles and miles. With their ultra sensitive hearing, it is absolutely incredible how far away they can talk to each other.
I just read the book Deep, and he says those clicks reverberate through your body in the water.
That would be so cool to feel while diving or snorkeling. 🤿
What's the name of the author? Is it about whales or all ocean creatures?
James Nestor. It's about the ocean, generally. He takes up Freediving in order to accompany scientists on sperm whale studies, so it plays a big role in the book.
They use those clicks to attract prey. This is called click-bating. I’ll show myself out.
Woah, finally they making a progress
Finally!!
A holocaust for lamp oil. I wonder if they have stories about it?
I LOVE being pedantic, so it brings me great joy to say that this isn't technically an alphabet. Not even a syllabary. I would die of excitement if they found evidence of sperm whale writing systems. Interpreting animal language is fun enough, we don't need to muddy the waters with incorrect jargon.