Sperm Whales May Have Names

[n2doc]

By Brandon Keim March 14, 2011 | 7:00 am | Categories: Animals


Subtle variations in sperm-whale calls suggest that individuals announce themselves with discrete personal identifier. To put it another way, they might have names.

The findings are preliminary, based on observations of just three whales, so talk of names is still speculation. But “it’s very suggestive,” said biologist Luke Rendell of Scotland’s University of St. Andrews. “They seem to make that coda in a way that’s individually distinctive.”

Rendell and his collaborators, including biologists Hal Whitehead, Shane Gero and Tyler Schulz, have for years studied the click sequences, or codas, used by sperm whales to communicate across miles of deep ocean. In a study published last June in Marine Mammal Sciences, they described a sound-analysis technique that linked recorded codas to individual members of a whale family living in the Caribbean.

In that study, they focused on a coda made only by Caribbean sperm whales. It appears to signify group membership. In the latest study, published Feb. 10 in Animal Behavior, they analyzed a coda made by sperm whales around the world. Called 5R, it’s composed of five consecutive clicks, and superficially appears to be identical in each whale. Analyzed closely, however, variations in click timing emerge. Each of the researchers’ whales had its own personal 5R riff.

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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/sperm-whale-names/

[eowyn_of_rohan]

1. That's Beautiful

I don't care what they say...humans are not the superior species. There.

[Lucinda]

2. Very cool!

Thankie for the link. :)

[JCMach1]

3. Very cool stuff...

[Tansy_Gold]

4. I love this stuff!

Thank you so much for all the cool science stuff you post every day. I don't always see it, but when I do, I enjoy it thoroughly.

:yourock:



TG

[tekisui]

5. knr!

[Enthusiast]

6. He said sperm.

Heh heh.

[sakabatou]

7. A few of the names have been deciphered:

Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Bashful, Grumpy and Doc.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Call me Ishmael. nt