With the help of artificial intelligence systems, researchers have discovered that sperm whale communication features extremely sophisticated structures similar to human language, scientists have revealed.
The modern technology is helping scientists analyze huge datasets, uncovering new levels of diversity and complexity in animal communication.
Researchers have used AI to decode what they characterize as a "sperm whale phonetic alphabet," the BBC reports.
The whales communicate with one another through rhythmic sequences of clicks, called codas. Previously thought to have just 21 coda types, the "language" has at least 156 distinct codes now discovered with the help of AI analysis of almost 9,000 recordings, notes the BBC/
The analysis also found basic sound units in these codas, similar to phonemes in human language that form words.
Pratyusha Sharma, a doctoral student at MIT, said in an interview that it was AI that helped detect the subtle changes in sperm whale clicks.
Each coda, made up of 3 to 40 clicks, varies in speed and sometimes includes an extra click at the end, like musical ornamentation.
The findings indicate that sperm whale vocalizations could carry much more information than previously thought.
"Some of these features are contextual," Sharma told the BBC.
"In human language, for example, I can say 'what' or 'whaaaat!?' It's the same word, but to understand the meaning, you have to listen to the whole sound," Sharma explained.
Researchers found that sperm whale "phonemes" can also be combined to create a wide range of vocalizations.
This shows a linguistic phenomenon called "duality of patterning," in which basic elements combine to form meaningful words, something once thought unique to human language.
Sperm whales are challenging for humans to study because they spend much of their lives foraging in deep, dark waters.
Kirsten Young, a marine scientist at the University of Exeter, explained that at the end of a day of foraging, the sperm whales come together at the surface and rub against each other, "chatting" in whale sounds while they socialize.
"As researchers, we don't see a lot of their behavior because they don't spend that much time at the surface," she said.
"There are masses we don't know about them because we are just seeing a tiny little snapshot of their lives during that 15 minutes at the surface," Young added.
Not everyone is convinced by the findings of the whale language studies.
Some experts warn against focusing too much on human-like language, which risks forcing researchers to see things from only one perspective.
But Young defines the research as a key "incremental step" toward understanding these giants of the deep.
"We're starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together," she told the BBC, adding: "We really have no idea. But the better we can understand these amazing animals, the more we'll know about how we can protect them."
