Shut Up and Listen: Scientists Decode the Phonetic Alphabet of the Sperm Whale

Scientists from Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) and MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory believe they have decoded, or at least discovered, the “sperm whale phonetic alphabet,” revealing a rich lexicon not previously observed in whale communication. The research is published in Nature Communications.

Sperm whales emit short bursts of clicks called codas they use to communicate. The researchers analyzed about 9000 distinct codas, collected from Eastern Caribbean sperm whale pods observed by the Dominica Sperm Whale Project. Using a mix of algorithms and recording equipment, they found that sperm whale communications were hardly random or simplistic, but complex coda patterns deployed in long exchanges.

The researchers identified various elements as  “rhythm,” “tempo,” “rubato,” and “ornamentation” combinations that form distinguishable codas. We don’t know what they’re saying and we may never know, but we’re pretty sure they’re speaking a rich language capable of complex communication.

“While the communicative function of many codas remains unknown, these results show that the sperm whale communication system may represent a large space of possible meanings,” Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab, says in a CETI press release.

Rus says that AI, or machine learning, is key to identifying the features of whale communications and predicting what they say next. 

“This discovery marks a profound moment in advancing our understanding of sperm whales,” says David Gruber, Project CETI founder. “It opens up the possibility that sperm whales have an incredibly complex and nuanced communication system –and inspires us to continue on our whale listening journey.”

In order to proceed on this journey, we’ll need to be quieter. Another article in Nature published earlier this year documents the difficulty that some species of baleen whales have in being heard above the din of human-made shipping noises. We need to shut up and listen.

Photo credit: Amanda Cotton / MIT CSAIL

#spermwhales #whales #CETI #MIT #NatureCommunications