The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales. The whales are around 52 feet long, and sperm whales can be found anywhere in the open ocean. Sperm whales live in very tight social networks, and communicate to each other using a system of clicks. Further analysis of these sounds indicates there is a variation in the dialect
Scientists from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada have put forward a paper that shows separate groups of whales (referred to as clans), which number of the thousands, deploy particular subtle sequence of noises that are different to other clans. The scientists studied sperm whales located close to the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific.
The clicks are said to be like codas, or a type of Morse code, varying in pace, sound and rhythm. This goes some way to explain why different clans of sperm whales do not ever seem to mix.
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications (“Multilevel animal societies can emerge from cultural transmission.”)
In related aquatic news, the blue bastard fish, which has long been rumored to exist within the Australian waters, has formally been identified as a new species. The official name, given by Queensland University, is Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus. With a nod to colloquialisms used by local fishermen, Mashable reports that Caeruleo means blue and nothus is bastard.
