French scientists have managed to decipher the language of sperm whales

They live in the depths of the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Mauritius: the sperm whales, which we know without doubt the best in the world, since they evolve under the eye and the objective of the cameras of specialists French like the oceanographer François Sarano and the director René Heuzet known for his underwater films.

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A very special microphone

And by dint of recording them, scientists have entered their lives. They have been diving with these clans of sperm whales for ten years. Some of these animals could be observed more than 200 times, which is huge. Among the instruments used by divers, there is a special microphone that allows them not only to record the sounds produced by these sperm whales, but also to link these sounds to specific individuals.

Until now, it was impossible: we could hear the sounds, but not identify the transmitter. Now researchers know who’s talking and can even tell the animal’s age from analyzing those clicks. We also know that these sounds allow them to communicate, but not only: animals can also locate themselves in the dark thanks to the echo.

These sperm whales now have their own identity card. This is the mission entrusted to these researchers from the foundation dedicated to marine life in the Indian Ocean. They have drawn up about a hundred “identity cards” so far. A genealogical tree of one of the clans of sperm whales has also been reconstructed thanks to genetic analyzes from pieces of dead skin abandoned by the animals.

The work does not stop there: scientists obviously want to know more about these groups of sperm whales. They will now try to identify the differences in sound expressions that may exist, depending on the case, the different dialects of the underwater world…