Suffolk Reporter

Whales may communicate with linguistic efficiency similar to humans, according to a study by Mason Youngblood, a postdoctoral fellow at Stony Brook University's Institute for Advanced Computational Science. The research, published in Science Advances, analyzed vocal sequences from 16 whale species and compared them with 51 human languages. It found that many whales "compress" their calls to maximize efficiency, akin to human speech patterns.

Dr. Youngblood discovered that eleven whale species exhibit Menzerath's law, where longer vocal sequences consist of shorter elements. Additionally, some species like humpback and blue whales follow Zipf’s law of abbreviation, using shorter sounds more frequently. This suggests whales have evolved communication methods that save energy and help avoid predators.

However, not all whales demonstrate these efficiency patterns. Some dolphin species in the Cephalorhynchus genus do not show evidence of such patterns, possibly due to their reliance on ultrasonic sounds for predator evasion rather than timing optimization. Even within species like killer whales, call sequence compression varies without affecting smaller elements.

"I find it fascinating that communication evolves in similar ways across species, even when the purpose is wildly different," said Dr. Youngblood. He noted differences in whale communication purposes: singing for mate attraction among humpback and bowhead whales; coordination calls among dolphins and killer whales; and clan identity clicks among sperm whales. Despite these differences, many vocal sequences display efficiency patterns found in human language.

Stony Brook University is New York's flagship university and part of the State University of New York system. It has over 26,000 students and more than 3,000 faculty members. The university is known for its research-intensive environment and commitment to addressing global challenges.