New research reveals an unprecedented view into the social lives of sperm whales, who can use 'vocal clans' to distinguish themselves:
The deep ocean is the least-understood environment on our planet, and the sperm whale is one of its strangest inhabitants. It has the biggest brain of any species, and a massive head filled with a waxy substance called spermaceti, once prized by whalers. It can dive more than 2,000 m deep to feast on giant squid, hunting in the dark with echolocation, and stay under for an hour.
Sperm whales communicate through Morse-code-like patterns of clicks called “codas,” which are different than the echolocation clicks they emit to find squid and other prey. Shortly after birth, whales begin to babble, and eventually pick up a dialect, which distinguishes them as members of a particular “vocal clan.” Each clan can encompass thousands of sperm whales. Members of different vocal clans are culturally different: they might not travel the same routes, and won’t interact much.
Sperm whale “societies,” as Gero calls them, evolved out of necessity. Nursing calves aren’t able to deep-dive like their mothers. When mom is diving for squid, she leaves her little one with a babysitter—a trusted family member or friend. “Mothers live in groups, and form these long-term bonds, to have a social resource for looking after calves,” says Rendell of the University of St. Andrews. Vocal communication, he adds, is “the glue and oil of social life.
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