Exceot they are not vowels or even "vowel-like". In any way. At all. The entire myth is built on fundamental misunderstanding or misrepresentation of sperm whale sound production - which is why the word 'vowel' appears only in the PR and not the actual peer-reviewed paper 🙄

Gasper Begus@begus.bsky.social · last wk.

Whales use vowels differently when ships are around. First glimpse at vowels being meaningful in whales too.

So cool! 🌕 🐒

Cat Hobaiter@nakedprimate.bsky.social · last wk.

It’s a little nerve-wracking playing in another field’s sandbox, but this was a really fun way to bring some primatology to an ancient Egyptian conundrum.. so if you’re into big baboons, Egyptian dieties, etymological puzzles, &/or spectroscopy of shiny things.. read on! 🧪🏺🐒🌕 tinyurl.com/moonbaboon

What a powerful way to illustrate shifting baseline syndrome. And how sad it sounds... www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Listen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years

Guardian recreates audio landscape of past filled by loud morning symphony before 73m wild birds were lost

theguardian.com

New chapter: Sperm Whales in Handbook of the Mammals of Europe. Led by Sanna Isojunno, a comprehensive review of knowledge of sperm whales in European waters - happy to see this out! @jlkershaw.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social 🐋🦑 link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/... DM yr email for PDF

Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758

This comprehensive species-specific chapter covers all aspects of mammalian biology, including taxonomy, global and European distribution, genetics, morphology, life history, ecology, behavior, parasi...

link.springer.com

New paper! I am now officially a bowhead song researcher thanks to Seth's cool new paper - see thread for details - there is so much work to do on bowhead song and I am excited to continue this collaboration! @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @taylorhersh.bsky.social @sethharris15.bsky.social 🐋🦑🧪

Seth Harris@sethharris15.bsky.social · 4w ago

New paper on bowhead whale song out with @lrendell.bsky.social, @taylorhersh.bsky.social and Kate Stafford! 🐋 tinyurl.com/3svw5pzp

New paper! Dialect variation in Mediterranean sperm whales shows evidence of cultural evolution in an isolated population tinyurl.com/yrfepekh with @taylorhersh.bsky.social @asociaciontursiops.bsky.social and the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute 🐋🦑🧪 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

1/4 The enormous complexity of algae fishing Researchers have studied in detail how chimpanzees in Guinea fish for algae. They prepare their tools (up to 4 m long) in advance, and use 22 different techniques. (paper) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I like ba-o-babs and I can not lie… but as it turns out I’m not the only one! Fongoli chimpanzees incorporate baobab hollows into their vocal drumming displays!! 🧪🐵🥁 Are you sitting comfortably… 1/n #newpaper #sciencestorytelling brill.com/view/journal...

Many of us have seen videos of humans swimming with orcas. The reality, however, is much different. Over the course of nearly a year, I traveled to Norway and Mexico to report on the complexity of swimming with these apex predators. Read more in @nytimes.com gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/s...

Clear Waters, Murky Morals: When Humans Swim With Killer Whales

nytimes.com

📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us: 🐦 Quantifying (social) learning and social behaviour in an urbanised world 🐦 Position at @ceec-research.bsky.social 📆29th May deadline More info: tinyurl.com/yz28s96x Apply: tinyurl.com/2wpkb64y #cognition #socialbehaviour #fieldwork #birds 🙏Please Share

Really nice to see our recent paper picked up in a Dispatch. It highlights a point we care a lot about: even in a conservation success story like humpback whales, recovery is about more than numbers.🐳 Dispatch: www.cell.com/current-biol... @currentbiology.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

Marine biology: Don’t call it a humpback comeback!

As a population recovers from extreme exploitation, it is not simply a matter of how many individuals are in the population but who they are, which can affect sexual selection. A long-term study of hu...

cell.com

Franca Eichenberger@francae.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New paper on age-related reproductive tactics & success in humpback whales, published in Current Biology.🐳🧬 doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... #marmam @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social @clairenea.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social 1/7

So exciting to see sperm whale dialect data being collected from the Turkish eastern Med waters 👏 Aylin Akkaya - and presented with good humour 🤣 sperm whale squeals can indeed sound like drowning cats! watch this space for more developments on this topic! 👌🦑🧪🐋 #ECS2026

@denrisch.bsky.social sent gliders bearing soundtraps around the famous Stanton Bank - dolphins on the bank, porpoises off it...super cool work! #ECS2026 🦑🧪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🐋

Georgina Whittome with important findings about blue whale distribution and ENSO patterns in the eastern Pacific 👏 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social #ECS2026 #MSc_MMS_St_A 🐋🦑🧪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Day 3 #ECS2026 🥳 Super thoughtful and thought provoking plenary on importance of taking perspective in conservation science from Paul Thompson this morning 🐋🦑🧪

@oceangill.bsky.social looks beyond Europe to summarise coastal cetacean conservation issues and massive data gaps around the Indian Ocean, focussing on the concerning status of humpback dolphins and establishing a vital international network #ECS2026 🦑🐋🧪 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

Minke whakes in Western Scotland need dynamic management of protection and entanglement mitigation as distribution changes across seasons awesome work - local fisher knowledge can be vital! Nice work @timawbery.bsky.social #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪

Day 2 #ECS2026 @eva-mariab.bsky.social telling us about diving physiology explored with foraging experiments at @seamammalresearch.bsky.social #MSc_MMS_St_A 🐋🦑🧪

So chuffed to see @ellengarland.bsky.social and I's #MSc_MMS_St_A project student @sethharris15.bsky.social presenting his awesome work on bowhead songs at #ECS2026 🥳🐋🧪

Full disclosure I co-supervised @amsouth.bsky.social but my unbiased and objective opinion that his work on humpback song rhythms is awesome! 🤣 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪

Great to see #MSc_MMS_St_A graduate Thomas Webber blazing trails to automatically identofying Rissos dolphin clicks - see cool! #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪

Marleine Meister mesmerising with bowhead song, showing how vocal behaviour varies with ice cover. Amazing! #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪

Count the #MSc_MMS_St_A students and graduates at #ECS2026 - I make it 41 but I will be wrong 🤣 so nice to see everyone!

Ever masterful Enrico Pirotta shows how individual health can modulate responses to stress in dolphins 👏🐋🦑🧪 #ECS2026

Sinking creel lines effectively mitigate by catch in these fisheries in Scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Here's a picture of a creel with a sinking line. Amazingly important presentation by Susan Calderan #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪

Great job @jessmontabaranom.bsky.social! Important findings about seal behaviour around tidal turbines monitored with multibeam sonar @seamammalresearch.bsky.social #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪

Leigh Hickmott present a fine scale analysis of dive behaviour of beaked whales responding to milttary sonar #ECS2026 🐋🥳🐋🦑🧪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Very important work from Amy Feakes (who bravely defeated technical glitches!) on the impacts of seismic survey on fin whale vocal detections 👏 #ECS2026 🐋🦑🧪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Highly informative plenary from Emer Rogan to kick off #ECS2026 - detailed and sobering - Celtic Sea harbour porpoise need bycatch relief! 🐋 🦑 🧪

Let's goooo! #ECS2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @jeannemrdl.bsky.social is presenting work on humpback song in soundscapes of New Caledonian lagoons 🥳 🐋 🦑🧪 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿