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How do whales communicate?

📓 The short answer

Whales use a variety of sounds, such as clicks, squeaks, whistles, groans, and pulses, to communicate within their pods about who is talking, where everyone is, and coordinating migration and hunting. Some species of whales even create structured songs that they sing for hours at a time.

📚 The long answer

It's hard to see and smell in the ocean, so underwater creatures have to rely on sound for their primary sense. Whales in particular have incredibly complex forms of communication.

There are two types of whales: toothed and baleen (filter-feeding). These whales have different ways of getting their message across.

Toothed Whales

Toothed whales (like killer whales, beluga whales, dolphins, and sperm whales) use squeaks, whistles, clicks, chirps, and trills to communicate and navigate. (Click on those links to have a listen 🔊)

Squeaks and whistles are used as a way of communicating within pods. Each whale uses a different pitch and speed to identify who is speaking. Scientists even believe that every bottlenose dolphin develops a signature whistle (akin to a name) meant to communicate who is around. It's even been observed that if mother and baby dolphins get separated, they call out their whistles to each other until they are reunited.

But the primary sounds that toothed whales emit are clicks. When toothed whales click multiple times in a row, they are thought to be communicating with other whales in the area. Pods of sperm whales share a distinctive pattern of clicks, which likely help coordinate migration and group hunting.

While technically not communication, these clicks also serve another purpose: echolocation. Long before humans developed sonar, whales were using it to navigate the ocean and identify prey. Toothed whales use single clicks to send out a sound wave and wait for the returning wave to indicate how far away an object is, like the ocean floor or an unfortunate squid. It's theorized that sperm whales also use their loud clicks to stun their prey!

Fun fact: Sperm whales are so loud that a human could literally vibrate to death if they were within a few feet of the whale when it made a click noise.

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Baleen Whales

Baleen whales (like blue whales, humpback whales, and Gray whales) are more solitary creatures than toothed whales. But they communicate to each other from a distance through song using both tonal and pulsing sounds.

Baleen whales use low-frequency sounds that can be heard over tremendously long distances (thousands of kilometers at a time!). And some species produce melodic tunes called ​whale songs​. Whale songs – like human songs – have a basic structure of phrases repeated several times to make up a theme. A typical whale song has 5-7 themes that are repeated in a sequential order. Since songs are most often sung by male whales in breeding grounds, it's thought that the main purpose is to attract mates or demoralize other males.

One of the most interesting things about whale songs is that they are an example of cultural transmission. Separate whale pods who migrate near each other have been found to swap patterns and incorporate them into their pods' own typical repertoire.

P.S. Here is my favorite whale joke.​

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​Sources​

📖 Book of the week

​Poonachi: Or the Story of a Black Goat by Perumal Murugan​

In this touching and emotional story, you explore the world through the eyes of a small black goat named Poonachi. The book highlights the challenges Poonachi faces as she navigates through life, and the joy she brings to the people around her. If you love goats as much as I do, you will enjoy this sweet book.

👀 Catch up on other curious questions

• ​Why do lizards do push-ups?​​
• ​How are sloths not extinct yet from natural selection?​
• ​Why do camels have humps?​​​

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