In the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean, there are a lot of conversations going on.

Click-click-click-click-click. ThatB次元官网网址檚 the sound of a sperm whale.

Click-click-click-click, pause, click. ThatB次元官网网址檚 a sperm whale that lives in the same area but is from a different group.

Sperm whales, the largest toothed animal in the world and easily recognized by their huge, rounded foreheads, use series of Morse-code-like clicks, known as B次元官网网址渃odas,B次元官网网址� to communicate.

Scientists now say in a new study that variations in the whalesB次元官网网址� clicking dialects are evidence of B次元官网网址渘on-human cultureB次元官网网址� and provide a way for whale groups to mark cultural identity when clans overlap, in a similar way to human ethnic groups.

The study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences involved a team of 27 scientists from Halifax and Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Dr. Taylor Hersh, the paperB次元官网网址檚 lead author and PhD graduate from Dalhousie UniversityB次元官网网址檚 biology department, said in a news release the work B次元官网网址渨as the culmination of decades of research efforts by individuals working throughout the Pacific Ocean.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e decided to share data and work collaboratively, to learn something new about these enigmatic, charismatic and cultural animals,B次元官网网址� said Hersh.

To determine if whalesB次元官网网址� codas were comparable to dialects in humans, the researchers focused on B次元官网网址渋dentity codas,B次元官网网址� which are particular to each clan.

B次元官网网址淲hales from different clans never interact with each other, even when they share the same waters,B次元官网网址� Hersh said in an interview. B次元官网网址淭his suggests that the whales have some way of distinguishing B次元官网网址榰sB次元官网网址� versus B次元官网网址榯hem,B次元官网网址� and we wanted to know if they do so using identity codas.B次元官网网址�

After pooling acoustic data from 23 locations and extracting over 23,000 codas, the team identified seven sperm whale vocal clans across the Pacific, each having a unique dialect.

The research was part of the B次元官网网址淕lobal Coda Dialect ProjectB次元官网网址� led by Hersh, Canadian whale biologist Shane Gero, who is also a scientist-in-residence at OttawaB次元官网网址檚 Carleton University, and marine scientist Chris Johnson.

Hersh said researchers have known for years that they could tell different sperm whale clans apart based on their vocal sounds.

But the new research provided B次元官网网址渜uantitative evidenceB次元官网网址� that the whales themselves are using those identity codas as a symbolic marker to indicate which cultural group they belong to. When clans overlapped, their dialects became more distinct, the scientists said.

B次元官网网址淪o, I think a nice analogy with humans is, if you see someone walking around with a necklace that has a cross on it or a Star of David,B次元官网网址� said Hersh.

B次元官网网址淓ven without talking to them or hearing them speak or knowing anything about them, you know something about at least one cultural group that they see themselves belonging to.

B次元官网网址淎nd so, we think itB次元官网网址檚 something similar with the sperm whales that they use these certain coda types.B次元官网网址�

She said the study also revealed more about animal culture.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just for so long we thought we have the most complex culture, or we have the only culture. And I think itB次元官网网址檚 become clear over the past 10, 20 years that thatB次元官网网址檚 not true. We find more and more examples of animals with culture. And I think thatB次元官网网址檚 (true) with the sperm whales, B次元官网网址� said Hersh.

Gero, the scientist-in-residence at Carleton University, said in an interview that the work had been painstaking, with researchers spending thousands of hours on small, open boats.

He said some of the scientists had been B次元官网网址渓iving on sailboats sailing across the Pacific,B次元官网网址� dragging a hydrophone behind them to constantly record the sounds of the ocean.

For every minute of recording, it could take eight to 12 times as long to extract and label a whaleB次元官网网址檚 coda.

Hersh said the next step is to conserve and protect whales in a way that accounts for their culture.

B次元官网网址淏ecause if these whales are drawing boundaries around their own cultural groups, then I think that should be reflected in management too (and) we should also try and see them in that way and incorporate that into how we manage them,B次元官网网址� said Hersh.

She joked that if, one day, a way was found for humans to communicate with sperm whales, sheB次元官网网址檇 ask them if the researchersB次元官网网址� findings were relevant to them.

B次元官网网址淚t would be great to ask, B次元官网网址榳ait, is that true,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said with a laugh.

B次元官网网址擭ono Shen, The Canadian Press