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The Conversation
Environment
Luke Rendell, Reader in Biology, University of St Andrews

Are we really about to talk to whales?

A humpback whale surfaces for a chat. Jay Ondreicka/Shutterstock

The past decade has seen an explosion of new research into some of the most fascinating sounds in the sea: the vocalisations of whales and dolphins.

Scientists have uncovered how humpback whales learn songs from neighbouring populations, so that these songs travel from western Australia to South America. They discovered bowhead whales singing 184 different songs over three years, and learned how bottlenose dolphins use signature whistles to shore up alliances.

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