VOA科学技术2024--Scientists Claim Discovery of Sperm Whales' Communication System

Researchers say they can explain how sperm¹ whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica might be communicating.

Like many whales and dolphins, sperm whales are highly social mammals. They communicate by squeezing air through their respiratory systems. That creates fast clicking sounds. The clicks are also used in the process of echolocation, which helps the whales find food.

For years, scientists have been trying to understand what the sounds made by the whales mean, with little progress. While they still do not know, they now think the clicks make up a "phonetic² alphabet" that the whales use. The researchers said the whales use the sound to make what are equivalent to words and phrases.

"We're now starting to find the first building blocks of whale language," said David Gruber. He is founder³ and president of the Cetacean Translation Initiative. The nonprofit group uses machine learning and robotics to try to understand the communication of sperm whales.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers examined more than 8,700 recordings⁵ of sperm whale clicks, known as codas. They have found four basic elements that they believe make up a phonetic alphabet.

Pratyusha Sharma is the study's lead researcher. She said the whales can combine the phonetic alphabet in an unlimited⁶ number of ways.

"It doesn't appear that they have a fixed⁷ set of codas," said Sharma. She is an artificial intelligence and computer science expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "That gives the whales access to a much larger communication system," she added.

Sperm whales have brains that weigh about nine kilograms. They have the biggest brains of any known animal. Females live in groups of about 10 and sometimes meet up with hundreds or thousands of other whales. Sperm whales can grow up to 18 meters long and dive to nearly 1,000 meters to hunt for squid. They sleep vertically⁸, in groups.

Gruber said sperm whales seem to have highly developed social ties. Understanding their communication system could show similarities with human language and society.

In Dominica, there is a population of about 200 sperm whales. To get enough samples of clicks, scientists set up underwater recording⁴ equipment with microphones at different levels. Devices, called tags, were placed on the whales to record what position they were in when clicking. For example, the devices gathered information on whether the whales were diving, sleeping, or breathing at the surface. The tags also recorded whether there were any other whales nearby.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers sperm whales "vulnerable." The whales were hunted for hundreds of years mostly for the oil contained in their large heads. The whale population is still recovering.

Diana Reiss is a marine⁹ mammal behavior and communication expert at the City University of New York. She said that scientists understand some parts of marine animals' communication well, including the whistles used by dolphins and the songs sung by humpback whales.

But when it comes to sperm whales, scientists do not have even basic knowledge.

Reiss was not involved in the new research. But she said she hoped we would one day be able to connect the whales' clicks to behavior.

"We will never understand what the clicks mean to another whale, but we may be able to understand what the clicks mean enough to predict their behavior," she said. "That alone would be an amazing achievement."

Words in This Story

respiratory - adj. related to breathing

echolocation - n. the ability to use sound to find out where things are around you

equivalent - adj. have the same effect or result as

journal -n. an academic magazine that publishes scholarly work in a field of study

access - n. the ability to get something or reach a goal

vertically -adv. positioned up and down

microphone -n. a device used to record sound

marine - adj. related to the sea

vulnerable - adj. not endangered but not existing in very large numbers

1 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

2 phonetic   

adj.语言的，语言上的，表示语音的

参考例句：

• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
• English phonetic teaching is an important teaching step in elementary stages.语音教学是英语基础阶段重要的教学环节。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

6 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

9 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。