How do whales communicate?
Whales are known for using complex clicks and singing to communicate with each other – even if they are hundreds of miles apart.
Whales that are closely related or live together produce similar pulsed calls that carry vocal characteristics distinct to the group, known as a dialect.
Clicks are believed to be primarily used for navigation and identifying objects such as prey in the environment but they are also used for social interactions.
Members of a pod have similar calls known as a dialect, which is composed of types of discrete, repetitive calls.
Newborns copy the call of their mother.
It’s thought that individuals learn their dialect though contact with their mothers and other pod members.
Norwegian and Icelandic herring-eating orcas are believed to have different vocalisations for activities such as hunting and travelling.
Could they talk to humans?
Previously researchers thought mimicking human speech was limited to some primates, birds, elephants, dolphins and seals.
The fact the whale produces these sounds shows they are able to learn sounds by copying and helps us understand their lives in the wild.
However, when Wikie says ‘hello’ it means absolutely nothing to her.
She does not attach any meaning to this sound and is not ‘talking’ to humans.
The word is completely out of the normal sound repertoire of whales and was chosen as a nonsense sound.
When Wikie says ‘hello’ it means absolutely nothing to her. She does not attach any meaning to this sound and is not ‘talking’ to humans
Although the researchers did not set out to test Wikie’s communication skills, the scientist who led the study believes basic ‘conversations’ with her may one day be possible.
Dr Jose Abramson, from Complutense de Madrid University in Spain, said: ‘Yes, it’s conceivable … if you have labels, descriptions of what things are.
‘It has been done before with a famous grey parrot and dolphins using American sign language – sentences like ‘bring me this object’ or ‘put this object above or below the other’.’
The experiment proves there is a lot of complex communication happening among whales and dolphins.