A sperm whale can dive beyond 2,000 meters, enduring pressure that would crush steel, yet researchers continue to find organisms living inside their bodies that are as remarkable as the animals
A sperm whale can dive beyond 2,000 meters, enduring pressure that would crush steel, yet researchers continue to find organisms living inside their bodies that are as remarkable as the animals themselves. Routine examinations of dead whales have produced discoveries that range from massive blockages caused by the animal’s own biology to parasitic worms longer than most vehicles.Sperm whales are t…
Marine biologists racing to discover why a sperm whale stranded on a remote shoreline were stunned by what their necropsy uncovered deep inside its stomach. The massive mammal appeared healthy on the outside, yet its death remains a mystery that now has researchers questioning their entire understanding of ocean pollution.
A sperm whale that stranded in the Canary Islands in 2023 died from a large intestinal blockage caused by ambergris, a substance long associated with the perfume industry. The case is one of several recent strandings that have drawn attention to the health threats facing these animals, including parasitic infections and internal injuries that are only visible during necropsies.Sperm whales are the…
Scientists fed decades of sperm whale clicks into an AI built to decode their communication, and the first translated message stopped researchers cold. The system identified repeating patterns in the whales’ codas, the rhythmic click sequences they use to talk.
In 2024, an MIT research team analyzed 9,000 recordings of sperm whale vocalizations using an artificial intelligence system originally designed for code-breaking. The analysis identified 156 distinct click patterns, known as codas, that the whales use to communicate. This was a significant increase from the 21 codas that researchers had previously cataloged since the 1970s.The findings emerged fr…