--- title: Whale Sounds: Marine Animals May Communicate Differently description: Whales at different spots around the globe communicate with different variations of the sound, an analogue to human dialects. canonical: https://time.com/4027112/whale-dialects/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-09T18:58:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:35.364Z article:section: Science og:title: Whales Have Dialects Just Like Humans, Study Finds og:description: Whales in different locations make slightly different sounds to communicate og:url: https://time.com/4027112/whale-dialects/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb942741a5232905e/698862d45f570f5d92b1d4bd/whale.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5220 og:image:height: 2936 og:image:alt: Whale og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Whales Have Dialects Just Like Humans, Study Finds twitter:description: Whales in different locations make slightly different sounds to communicate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb942741a5232905e/698862d45f570f5d92b1d4bd/whale.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Whales Have Dialects Just Like Humans, Study Finds > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Waking the Dead: Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life [Watch (HLS stream): Waking the Dead: Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7mURxfr4.m3u8) (4:03)  _Published 2014-03-12. Conservationists and scientists have a saying, "extinction is forever." But soon biologists will clone long-gone animals in the hope to redefine that axiom to "DE-extinction is forever."_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 9, 2015 6:58 PM UTC  Humpback-whale-tail Humpback-whale-tail Monica and Michael Sweet—Getty Images/Flickr RF  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 9, 2015 6:58 PM UTC Whale researchers and enthusiasts have long known about the loud clicking sounds made by the marine mammal to communicate. Now, new research shows how whales at different spots around the globe communicate with different variations of the sound, an analogue to human dialects. Researchers tracked groups of whales during a series of 2 to 4–week trips between 1985 and 2003, recording both images and sound. The [study](https://time.com/wp-admin/post-new.php), published in the journal _Nature Communications_, suggests that the dialects emerged as a result of cultural learning similar to the processes that humans undergo. These experiences and differences play a key role in the formation of culture and differentiate one group from another, according to the study. Still, the difference in dialects confounded researchers given the lack of physical barriers in the ocean. “Providing evidence that the processes generating the complex and diverse cultures in human populations could also be at play in non-human societies is a crucial step towards evaluating the contrasts and convergences between human and non-human cultures,” researchers wrote. ### 26 of LIFE’s Best Animal Covers  February 8, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Charles J. Belden). LIFE Magazine  March 1, 1937 LIFE Magazine cover (photo by Henry M. Lester). 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