Sperm whales make sounds like human vowels, scientists report

NPR | By Megan Lim,

Patrick Jarenwattananon

Published April 16, 2026 at 2:52 PM MDT

Facebook
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Email

A new report from scientists at Project CETI demonstrates that the noises that sperm whales make to communicate with each other contain what humans would describe as vowels.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.

Donate