How can sperm whales tell where others of their species are from?

If you thought human accents were distinct, you ought to hear whale song. Just like humans, sperm whales can apparently have not only an accent, but also a regional dialect. A whale’s song serves as part of it’s cultural identity, and lets other whales know where it came from.

When they dive together, sperm whales make patterns of clicks (called “codas”) in order to communicate. Recent findings suggest that not only do different codas mean different things, but whales can also tell which member of their community is clicking; just as we can tell our friends apart by the sound of their voices or their pronunciation. One click sequence identifies the vocal clan and essentially translates to, “I am from the Caribbean, are you?” says Shane Gero, founder of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project.

Caribbean sperm whales have their own specific accent which sets their speech apart from that of Pacific sperm whales. After analyzing over 4,000 whale calls, researchers discovered that the Caribbean sperm whale coda is a distinct dialect, not heard from sperm whales anywhere else in the world.

Although Caribbean and Pacific whales have different repertoires of codas and regional dialects, the "Five Regular" call (a pattern of five evenly spaced clicks) is thought to have the universal function of individual identity because it is used by sperm whales worldwide. So far, researchers have identified three separate types of songs which are used in distinctly different parts of the world.