Scientists have suggested that whale song might be as efficient as human speech, or even more so in some cases.
The scientists have looked at two linguistic laws: Menzerath’s law and Zipf’s law. Menzerath’s law says that longer phrases have shorter parts to make communication efficient. Zipf's law explains that commonly used words or sounds are shorter.
The scientists analyzed whale songs from 16 species of cetaceans, including dolphins and whales. They found that 11 species' vocalizations match or exceed human efficiency according to Menzerath’s law. However, only humpback and blue whales follow Zipf’s law like humans do, with humpbacks matching human levels. A paper published in Science Advances describes the methods and results of this study.
In another study, scientists examined humpback whale songs for similarities to human language. They used methods from infant speech analysis to find that whale songs have structures similar to human language, following a Zipfian distribution. A paper published in Science describes the methods and results of this study.
This pattern makes learning easier and helps preserve information across generations. Humpback whale songs are complex, with sounds forming phrases, phrases creating themes, and themes building into songs. This indicates that cultural transmission plays a key role in communication, not just in humans but also in whales.
Similar patterns in human and animal communications
The scientists suggest that while whale songs don't carry the meaning of human language, they might be more akin to human music.
A summary, also published in Science, notes that scientists have found Menzerath’s law and Zipf’s law not just in human language but also in animal communication, including whales, primates, and birds.
Humpback whale songs and bird songs follow these laws much like human languages do, but they don't carry the same meanings as words do. Instead, we might think of whale songs more like human music. This shows that even though whales and humans are very different, their communication can have similar patterns. These patterns are complex, learned through culture, and work well for sharing information.