Sperm whales change click patterns near boats
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- Project Ceti researchers found sperm whales off Dominica change their clicking patterns—making codas shorter and faster—when shipping noise is present, with the shift distinct enough to predict ship presence from vocalizations alone.
- The four-year study recorded over 1,000 codas from 15 whales using drone-deployed audio tags, with ship locations independently verified by digital geolocation data.
- Unlike other marine animals that simply get louder, sperm whales altered tempo and coda type rather than volume, switching more frequently to "aaaa" over "iiii" vowel-like codas when ships were present.
- David Gruber, Project Ceti's founder, posed the unresolved question of whether whales are "talking about the ships" or merely struggling to communicate, and whether decoded calls could shape shipping-noise policy.
- Nathan Merchant of UK agency Cefas called the findings "another dimension of nuance" on how underwater noise affects cetaceans, but cautioned that unknown factors—not just shipping—could drive the vocal changes.
- Some outside researchers have criticized Project Ceti's earlier work for overreaching by using terms like "vowels" and "language"; Gruber said the team now hedges with "vowel-like" and "language-like."
Why it matters: Project Ceti founder David Gruber explicitly raised whether decoded whale calls could reshape policy on shipping noise near critical habitats like Dominica's waters. The study also reframes underwater noise research: sperm whales alter call *content*, not just volume, adding a behavioral dimension that noise-mitigation rules for shipping have not previously accounted for.
