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#spermwhale — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #spermwhale, aggregated by home.social.

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  1. I'm counting the days when we can successfully communicate with sperm whales 🐳. We will finally be able to apologise for almost making them extinct because of our thirst for money and "progress".

    And we could tell them one of the greatest books ever written by our civilization is about them! 😍

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    Melville would be proud. 🫶🏾

    #melville #hermanmelville #mobydick #whale #spermwhale #nonhumans

  2. I'm counting the days when we can successfully communicate with sperm whales 🐳. We will finally be able to apologise for almost making them extinct because of our thirst for money and "progress".

    And we could tell them one of the greatest books ever written by our civilization is about them! 😍

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    Melville would be proud. 🫶🏾

    #melville #hermanmelville #mobydick #whale #spermwhale #nonhumans

  3. Okay this is wild — sperm whales apparently have their own phonetic "alphabet" with vowel-like sounds, tones, and layered structures that work a lot like human language.
    These guys have been having deep, multi-generational conversations for millions of years. Just passing down knowledge like we do.
    Honestly just a really cool reminder that we're not the only intelligent, cultural species on this planet. Nature still finds ways to blow my mind.

    #whale #language #spermwhale

    theguardian.com/environment/20

  4. Okay this is wild — sperm whales apparently have their own phonetic "alphabet" with vowel-like sounds, tones, and layered structures that work a lot like human language.
    These guys have been having deep, multi-generational conversations for millions of years. Just passing down knowledge like we do.
    Honestly just a really cool reminder that we're not the only intelligent, cultural species on this planet. Nature still finds ways to blow my mind.

    #whale #language #spermwhale

    theguardian.com/environment/20

  5. WOAAAHHHH!!! 😍🐋🥰

    "Not only do sperm whales have a form of 'alphabet' and form vowels within their vocalizations but the structure of these vowels behaves in the same way as human speech, the new study has found".

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #spermwhale #whales #language #animalbehaviour

  6. WOAAAHHHH!!! 😍🐋🥰

    "Not only do sperm whales have a form of 'alphabet' and form vowels within their vocalizations but the structure of these vowels behaves in the same way as human speech, the new study has found".

    theguardian.com/environment/20

    #spermwhale #whales #language #animalbehaviour

  7. #Nantucket is working with federal officials "to determine the best course of action regarding the whale that washed ashore.
    The #spermwhale is a male that measures 50 feet long and weighs about 104,000 pounds, or 52 tons, according to Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket

    cbsnews.com/boston/news/nantuc

  8. Ancient fossil sperm #whale may have been active predator phys.org/news/2025-05-ancient-

    Awakening #Patagonia's sleeping #SpermWhale: a new description of the Early #Miocene Idiorophus patagonicus. By Florencia Paolucci et al. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10

    "Its snout features point to a lifestyle quite different from modern sperm #whales. It was likely an active predator of large #fish and possibly #seabirds, while extant #SpermWhales feed mostly on #cephalopods or small fish through suction feeding"

  9. Ancient fossil sperm #whale may have been active predator phys.org/news/2025-05-ancient-

    Awakening #Patagonia's sleeping #SpermWhale: a new description of the Early #Miocene Idiorophus patagonicus. By Florencia Paolucci et al. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10

    "Its snout features point to a lifestyle quite different from modern sperm #whales. It was likely an active predator of large #fish and possibly #seabirds, while extant #SpermWhales feed mostly on #cephalopods or small fish through suction feeding"

  10. My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

    The 2022 Korean translation of Locked in Time (by Dr Dean Lomax & published by Columbia University Press) commissioned me to colourise my 50 greyscale illustrations. "Victims of the Bloom" shows a mass stranding of baleen whales, sperm whales, seals, and fishes, caused by a toxic algal bloom.

    #Art #Painting #PaleoArt #PalaeoArt #SciArt #SciComm #DigitalArt #Illustration #Palaeontology #Paleontology #BaleenWhales #SpermWhale #WildlifeArt

  11. My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

    The 2022 Korean translation of Locked in Time (by Dr Dean Lomax & published by Columbia University Press) commissioned me to colourise my 50 greyscale illustrations. "Victims of the Bloom" shows a mass stranding of baleen whales, sperm whales, seals, and fishes, caused by a toxic algal bloom.

    #Art #Painting #PaleoArt #PalaeoArt #SciArt #SciComm #DigitalArt #Illustration #Palaeontology #Paleontology #BaleenWhales #SpermWhale #WildlifeArt

  12. 🐳⚡
    Sperm Whale yesterday, #Waterford

    #IWDG:
    iwdg.ie/sperm-whale-in-waterfo

    🐳 Largest Toothed Predator, 18 meters long, <57 Tons

    🐳 Deep Diver: I3,000 meters

    🐳 Huge Head and Brain

    🐳 Powerful echolocation clicks, loudest animal

    #speirgorm #whale #spermWhale #ireland #irish #dolphin #mastodaoine

    📷©Watchorn

  13. Holy CRAP!! 😲 Sperm whale in Prince William Sound near Valdez, Alaska. Photographer Todd Graven saw this guy yesterday and estimated his size at around 60 feet long. They don't usually go into PWS. The photo was taken by a drone. #Alaska #AlaskaSeaLife #SpermWhale #Ginormous

  14. Holy CRAP!! 😲 Sperm whale in Prince William Sound near Valdez, Alaska. Photographer Todd Graven saw this guy yesterday and estimated his size at around 60 feet long. They don't usually go into PWS. The photo was taken by a drone. #Alaska #AlaskaSeaLife #SpermWhale #Ginormous

  15. A sperm whale dives into the ocean depths to hunt squid near the southern tip of Mauritius, one of only three places where these huge creatures are residents all year round.

    Taken with an underwater camera case.

    #photography #spermwhale #mauritius #olympus

  16. A sperm whale dives into the ocean depths to hunt squid near the southern tip of Mauritius, one of only three places where these huge creatures are residents all year round.

    Taken with an underwater camera case.

    #photography #spermwhale #mauritius #olympus

  17. #SpermWhale departure linked to decline in jumbo #squid population in #GulfofCalifornia
    Study offers insight into relationship between apex marine predators and their environment, highlighting sperm #whales as key indicators of oceanic health. Conducted over 9-years, utilized extensive survey data and photo-identification techniques to track sperm #whale populations. Finding striking correlation between decline of #jumbosquid and disappearance of sperm whales from region
    phys.org/news/2024-10-sperm-wh

  18. #SpermWhale departure linked to decline in jumbo #squid population in #GulfofCalifornia
    Study offers insight into relationship between apex marine predators and their environment, highlighting sperm #whales as key indicators of oceanic health. Conducted over 9-years, utilized extensive survey data and photo-identification techniques to track sperm #whale populations. Finding striking correlation between decline of #jumbosquid and disappearance of sperm whales from region
    phys.org/news/2024-10-sperm-wh

  19. Oops More Whales. This guy is a #spermwhale ! I really like how the weathering on this grey denim works.

  20. Oops More Whales. This guy is a #spermwhale ! I really like how the weathering on this grey denim works.

  21. The Vocabulary of Sperm Whales
    synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/05

    "Particular patterns of rhythm and tempo are more likely to be combined with rubato and/or extra clicks than others, and many potential patterns just aren't used at all. This also resembles the way that individual #phonemes are used in human #languages, with no #language containing every possible consonant... the researchers conclude that there are not just 21 'words' in the vocabulary of this particular #SpermWhale clan... there are 143."

  22. The Vocabulary of Sperm Whales
    synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/05

    "Particular patterns of rhythm and tempo are more likely to be combined with rubato and/or extra clicks than others, and many potential patterns just aren't used at all. This also resembles the way that individual #phonemes are used in human #languages, with no #language containing every possible consonant... the researchers conclude that there are not just 21 'words' in the vocabulary of this particular #SpermWhale clan... there are 143."

  23. #ML suggests all that relaxing #whale song might just be human-esque gossiping
    "Contextual and combinatorial structure in #spermwhale vocalisations," was undertaken by MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (#CSAIL) researchers and #ProjectCETI. The team used a relatively simple #machinelearning algorithm to analyze the communicative sounds #spermwhales make, thought to be a system of fixed messages – are actually much more complex than previously thought.
    theregister.com/2024/05/09/ai_

  24. npr.org/2024/05/07/1249546255/

    #spermwhale #communication #ai #language

    Sperm whales have a lot to say...downright chatty.

    Sperm whales don't sing in the melodious way humpback whales are known for. Instead, they make clicks in long exchanges that sound like a blend of Morse code & popcorn popping. For decades, scientists have recorded their conversations in the hope of teasing out their patterns.

    Now, a new study finds that sperm whales have far more nuanced communication than previously thought.

  25. In a time when we’re being inundated with all manner of ‘AI’ to ‘make us more productive’ (not the same as ‘work less’), it’s pretty nice to see AI being used to unravel the mysteries of the world around us.

    Machine learning, a branch of AI, has been used in the discovery of what could be described as ‘phonetic alphabet’ the building blocks of a more complex form of communication.

    Scientists have been trying for decades to understand how sperm whales communicate. The researchers, part of the Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) machine learning team, created a giant underwater recording studio with microphones at different depths to examine calls made by about 60 whales, which were tagged to ascertain if they were diving, sleeping or breathing at the surface while clicking.
    Having analysed more than 8,700 snippets of sperm whale clicks, known as codas, the researchers claim to have found four basic components making up a “phonetic alphabet”.

    Scientists discover sperm whale ‘phonetic alphabet’, AlJazeera, 8 May 2024.

    The actual source paper for the article comes from Nature Communications: Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale vocalisations (7 May 2024), which even links to the source data on Github.

    In an election year, it does seem much more attractive to listen to whales than politicians.

    The Project Ceti website is worth perusing, and there are ways to get involved, from donation of funds to donation of code and other things.

    In the middle of all the AI hype, it’s good to see something that’s about exploring and increasing our understanding of the world we’re in, and the creatures around us that could probably teach us a few tricks if we knew how to listen.

    Further reading on the general topic: How to Use AI to Talk to Whales—and Save Life on Earth

    https://knowprose.com/2024/05/08/learning-more-about-sperm-whales-a-phonetic-alphabet/

    #AI #artificialIntelligence #cetacean #interspeciesCommunication #machineLearning #ProjectCETI #spermWhale #Technology

  26. Exploring the mysterious alphabet of sperm whales news.mit.edu/2024/csail-ceti-e

    Contextual and combinatorial structure in #SpermWhale vocalisations nature.com/articles/s41467-024

    "the research shows that sperm #whales codas (short bursts of clicks) vary significantly in structure depending on the conversational context, revealing a communication system far more intricate than previously understood... akin to human #phonetics"

  27. Whalefall is a beautiful novel by Daniel Kraus. Jay Gardiner vows to recover his father's remains from Carmel Bay, but gets caught in a life-or-death struggle between a giant squid and a sperm whale. Whalefall is the best hard SF, accessible literary novel I've ever read.

    raynfranklin.com/books/science

    #spermWhale #diving #scifi

  28. Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
    In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science
    No Paywall: archive.ph/fccQ8

  29. Ambergris, a very rare and unlikely commodity, originates in the digestion process of squids by sperm whales and was used for its various qualities in the perfume industry.

    hakaimagazine.com/features/why

    #science #biology #perfume #spermwhale