Summary
Sperm whales communicate with each other using rhythmic sequences of clicks, called codas. Sperm whales live in multi-level, matrilineal societies – groups of daughters, mothers and grandmothers. The males roam the oceans, visiting the groups to breed.
Sperm whale vocalisations could carry a much richer amount of information than previously thought. Each coda consists of between three and 40 rapid-fire clicks. The existence of a combinatorial coding system is a prerequisite for "duality of patterning" – a linguistic phenomenon thought to be unique to human language.
Young says we're still a long way off from understanding what sperm whales might be saying to each other. But the better we can understand these amazing animals, the more we'll know about how we can protect them. "We really have no idea," says Young.