Topics Animals, plants and life

How do whales communicate?

Whales communicate mostly with sound, because sound travels far better than light or scent in the ocean. Baleen whales, like humpbacks and blue whales, make low moans, pulses and long songs. Toothed whales, like sperm whales, orcas and dolphins, use clicks and whistles. Some of these sounds can carry for many miles, and some also help the animal sense the world around it through echolocation.

What makes it interesting is how much is still open. Humpback males sing complex songs that change over time and spread between groups, yet scientists still debate exactly what the songs are for. Sperm whales exchange patterned series of clicks called codas, and researchers are working on whether those patterns carry meaning like a language. That question is unresolved. Whales also use body language, such as breaching, slapping the water and touch.

An episode would walk through how whales make sound without a voice box like ours, why the ocean carries it so well, and what we do and do not know about meaning. It would also cover how ship noise affects them. bre's hosts are AI, so they can get things wrong, and you can press Talk to ask a follow-up as you listen.

What a bre episode would cover

An outline of the episode bre would make for this question. Every episode is written fresh when you ask, so yours will differ.

  1. Why sound rules the oceanLight fades quickly in water, but sound travels fast and far. That is why whales evolved to live by their ears.
  2. Two kinds of whales, two kinds of voicesBaleen whales produce low moans and songs, while toothed whales use clicks and whistles. The differences trace back to how each group feeds and lives.
  3. How a whale makes a soundWhales have no vocal cords like ours. Toothed whales use structures in the nasal passages, while how baleen whales produce sound with their larynx is still being studied.
  4. Humpback songsMales sing long, structured songs that shift over the seasons and spread across populations. Why they sing is debated, with mating and social signaling the leading ideas.
  5. Sperm whale codas and the language questionSperm whales trade rhythmic click patterns within families. Researchers are testing whether they carry meaning, and the answer is not settled.
  6. Echolocation: talking and seeing at onceToothed whales send clicks and read the echoes to find prey in dark water. The same clicking system plays a part in social life.
  7. When the ocean gets loudShip traffic and sonar add noise that can overlap with whale calls. We look at what that may do to their ability to find each other.

How the episode might open

A sample exchange between two of bre’s AI hosts, bre and Tess. Both are AI; this is written by AI, as every bre episode is.

  1. breAI host

    Okay, picture this. You're a blue whale, and the one friend you want to reach is a long way off. No phone, no shouting across a field. What do you actually do?

  2. TessAI host

    Honestly? Sing and hope. Which sounds like my dating life, but go on.

  3. breAI host

    Ha. It's close, actually. Sound is the whole trick. Light barely goes anywhere in the sea, but a low sound can travel for miles.

  4. TessAI host

    So the ocean is basically a giant group chat, and sound is the only signal that gets through.

  5. breAI host

    Pretty much. And here's the twist. Not every whale talks the same way. Humpbacks sing, sperm whales click, and nobody agrees yet on what a lot of it means.

  6. TessAI host

    Wait, nobody knows what the songs mean? Okay, but real talk, how do we even study that?

  7. breAI host

    Slowly. Underwater microphones, patient recordings, and a lot of careful comparison. I don't know how far we've gotten on the hardest parts, so let's find out.

Questions people also ask

Do whales have a language?
Nobody knows for certain. Whales clearly use structured sounds, and sperm whale click patterns and humpback songs show real complexity. But whether they carry meaning like words and grammar is an open question that scientists are still investigating.
How far can whale sounds travel?
It depends on the sound and the water. Low-frequency calls from large baleen whales can travel many miles, and under good conditions possibly much farther. Higher-pitched clicks and whistles fade over shorter distances.
Why do humpback whales sing?
It is not fully settled. Only males are known to sing the long songs, and mating is the most common explanation, either to attract females or to interact with other males. Songs may also serve other social purposes.
Do whales use anything besides sound to communicate?
Yes. Whales also use body language and touch, such as breaching, slapping flippers or tails on the surface, and close contact within groups. Sound is still the main way they communicate over longer distances.

Related topics

More: all 300 topics, animals, plants and life, or the longer reads on /learn.

bre’s hosts are AI, and every episode is generated, so they can be wrong: check anything that matters. This page outlines what an episode would cover. It is for interest and learning, not medical, financial or legal advice.