Maybe We've Started to Figure Out Whale Songs

Tuckerfan · Dec 9, 2023

I would very much like for this to be true.

Scientists Have Reported a Breakthrough In Understanding Whale Language

Researchers have identified previously unknown elements of whale vocalizations that may be analogous to human speech, a new study reports.

Sperm whales are giants of the deep, with healthy adults having no known predators. Scientists studying their vocalizations have already picked out key elements of their communication, namely clicks, sequences of which are called codas. Now, researchers led by Gašper Beuš from the University of California, Berkeley report the discovery that the acoustic properties of these clicks—for example, pitch—are “on many levels analogous to human vowels and diphthongs,” which is when one vowel sound morphs into another such as in the word “coin.” The researchers even identify two unique “coda vowels” that are “actively exchanged” in conversation between whales, which they term the a-vowel and i-vowel.

The researchers explain in their paper, published as a preprint online this week, that the first clue that so-called spectral properties could be meaningful for whale speech was provided by AI. Beuš previously developed a deep learning model for human language called fiwGAN which “was trained to imitate sperm whale codas and embed information into these vocalizations.” Not only did the AI predict elements of whale vocalizations already thought to be meaningful, such as clicks, but it also singled out acoustic properties.

To follow up on the AI’s tip, the researchers analyzed a dataset of 3948 sperm whale codas recorded with hydrophones placed directly on whales between 2014 and 2018. They only analyzed one channel from the hydrophones to control for underwater effects and whale movement, and removed click timing from their visualization to better isolate patterns in the acoustic properties themselves.
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More at the link.

Steal Your Face · Dec 13, 2023

Tuckerfan said: ↑

I would very much like for this to be true.

Scientists Have Reported a Breakthrough In Understanding Whale Language

Researchers have identified previously unknown elements of whale vocalizations that may be analogous to human speech, a new study reports.

Sperm whales are giants of the deep, with healthy adults having no known predators. Scientists studying their vocalizations have already picked out key elements of their communication, namely clicks, sequences of which are called codas. Now, researchers led by Gašper Beuš from the University of California, Berkeley report the discovery that the acoustic properties of these clicks—for example, pitch—are “on many levels analogous to human vowels and diphthongs,” which is when one vowel sound morphs into another such as in the word “coin.” The researchers even identify two unique “coda vowels” that are “actively exchanged” in conversation between whales, which they term the a-vowel and i-vowel.

The researchers explain in their paper, published as a preprint online this week, that the first clue that so-called spectral properties could be meaningful for whale speech was provided by AI. Beuš previously developed a deep learning model for human language called fiwGAN which “was trained to imitate sperm whale codas and embed information into these vocalizations.” Not only did the AI predict elements of whale vocalizations already thought to be meaningful, such as clicks, but it also singled out acoustic properties.

To follow up on the AI’s tip, the researchers analyzed a dataset of 3948 sperm whale codas recorded with hydrophones placed directly on whales between 2014 and 2018. They only analyzed one channel from the hydrophones to control for underwater effects and whale movement, and removed click timing from their visualization to better isolate patterns in the acoustic properties themselves.
Click to expand...

More at the link.
Click to expand...

Grace is pregnant.

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Maybe We've Started to Figure Out Whale Songs

Tuckerfan BMF

Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

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Maybe We've Started to Figure Out Whale Songs

Tuckerfan BMF

Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

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