Male sperm whales produce loudest communication sounds ever measured in any mammal

Phys · 🇱🇰 public Sri Lanka · Aug 03, 2026 · 1135 words · By Aarhus University

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Male sperm whales produce loudest communication sounds ever measured in any mammal

Researchers from Aarhus University have studied the slow, low-frequency clicks produced by male sperm whales, finding them to be the loudest communication sounds of any mammal. The study explores the whales' unique nasal anatomy and hypothesizes that these sounds may serve as 'honest advertisements' of size, though the exact purpose and rhythmic mechanism remain under investigation.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage

Left20%

Center80%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Male sperm whales produce loudest communication sounds ever measured in any mammal Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor Deep in the world's oceans, large male sperm whales emit slow, low-frequency clicks with the highest source levels of any…

Why it matters

These slow clicks are not the echolocation clicks the whales use to locate prey, but loud, low-frequency communication signals.

Common ground

This is the conclusion of an international research team that measured and analyzed sperm whale slow clicks in the waters off Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Norway and Scotland.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Male sperm whales produce loudest communication sounds ever measured in any mammal?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Sperm whales... use short, rhythmic click packages, known as codas, in their social communication?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-male-sperm-whales-loudest-communication.html

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

cancel Disputed 1

info Single Source 1

help

Claim 1: “Sperm whales... use short, rhythmic click packages, known as codas, in their social communication.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to evaluate this specific claim about codas.

verified

Claim 2: “There can be five to 10 seconds between each click.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence discusses the range of the clicks (60-70km) and general numbers, but none of the provided search results specify the time interval between clicks as being 'five to 10 seconds'.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — 10 (ten) is the natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of decimal numeral systems, the most common systems for denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. The English n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — 10-10-321, 10-10-345, 10-10-220, and 10-10-987 are United States long-distance phone services best known for their prolific television and direct mail advertising in the late 1990s. 10-10-321 was the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-10-321

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ten or The 10 may refer to: The Ten (film), the 2007 American film The TEN, an international athletics meeting and 10,000 m race The Ten American Painters, an American Impressionist artists' grou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 3: “Male sperm whales emit slow, low-frequency clicks with the highest source levels of any animal communication sounds.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources confirm that male sperm whales produce the loudest communication sounds measured in any mammal, specifically referring to slow, low-frequency clicks.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Male sperm whales produce slow, low-frequency communication clicks with the highest measured source levels of any mammalian communication sound. These highly rhythmic signals may propagate up to 70 km…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-male-sperm-whales-loudest-comm…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Male sperm whales produce the loudest communication sounds ever measured in any mammal. These are loud clicks that the whales emit in an extremely precise and slow rhythm that can potentially be heard…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1138542

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Scientists Just Found the Loudest Known Sound Any Mammal Makes. In A Nutshell. Male sperm whales produce a click exceeding 200 underwater decibels, the loudest known communication signal from any mamm…
https://studyfinds.com/loudest-sound-ocean-sperm-whale/

check_circle

Claim 4: “The male has the world's largest sound-producing organ: a gigantic nasal complex that, in a fully grown animal, can weigh more than five tonnes (11,000 pounds) and makes up about one-third of the body length.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources confirm the nasal complex is the world's largest sound-producing organ, weighs over five tonnes, and makes up about one-third of the body length.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The male has the world's largest sound-producing organ: a gigantic nasal complex that, in a fully grown animal, can weigh more than five tonnes (11,000 pounds) and makes up about one-third of the body…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-male-sperm-whales-loudest-comm…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sperm whales possess the largest known sound-producing organ of any animal. This enormous nasal complex can weigh more than five tonnes in a fully grown male and may account for about one-third of the…
https://scienmag.com/scientists-investigate-the-worlds-most-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In large males, up to one third of the entire body length is made up of the huge nose, the world's largest biological sound generator.Indeed, sound travels through water five times faster than it does…
https://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/20010809_log_transcript.…

check_circle

Claim 5: “The result is a possible range of up to 70 kilometers (43 miles).”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources mention the potential communication range of these clicks as being up to 70 kilometers.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sperm (pl.: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one).…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sperm donation is the provision by a male of their sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other "fertility treatment" of one or more females who are not their sexua…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_donation

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_whale

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 6: “She is the first author of the study, which has just been published in the journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the study was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and identify Simone Videsen as an author/associated researcher.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Simone Videsen, AU. Usage Restrictions.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Funder. Human Frontier Science Program, European Research Council. DOI. 10.1111/nyas.70289.
https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1144611

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — According to a new study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, researchers recorded male sperm whales in waters off the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Norway, and Scotland, paying extra…
https://www.vice.com/en/article/sperm-whales-make-one-of-the…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, the study focused on a signal called the slow click and found it to be the loudest known communication sound made by any mammal on Earth, m…
https://studyfinds.com/loudest-sound-ocean-sperm-whale/

cancel

Claim 7: “As far as the researchers know, they are produced exclusively by males.”

DISPUTED

While some sources state that researchers believe they are produced exclusively by males, another source (Azores Whales) explicitly states these clicks are usually made by mature males but 'sometimes by females as well'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Slow clicks from a male sperm whale, recorded with a hydrophone from a boat off the Seychelles. Credit: Peter T. Madsen, AU.As far as the researchers know, they are produced exclusively by males. They…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-male-sperm-whales-loudest-comm…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — PDF | Sperm whales produce different click types for echolocation and communication.The 755 slow clicks detected were produced by tagged animals at the surface (52%), ascending from a dive (37%), and …
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236662636_The_funct…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sperm whales can make many different types of echolocation consisting of clicks, slow clicks, creaks, trumpets, codas, etc.These clicks are usually made by mature male sperm whales, and sometimes by f…
https://whalewatchingazores.com/blog/why-do-sperm-whales-use…

info

Claim 8: “These are car-tire-sized structures in the nose that the whale snaps together to create clicks.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the nasal complex is verified, the specific description of 'car-tire-sized structures' that the whale 'snaps together' is not corroborated across the provided evidence; the provided Wikipedia results for 'Sperm' are irrelevant (biological sperm cells).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sperm (pl.: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one).…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Spermatozoa, in this case human, are a primary component of normal semen, and the agents of fertilization of female ova. Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoa…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jul 25, 2024 · After unprotected vaginal intercourse, sperm cells travel through the vagina, cervix, uterus and eventually fallopian tubes. The immune system recognizes sperm as foreign invaders and m…
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/sperm

check_circle

Claim 9: “slow clicks are not the echolocation clicks the whales use to locate prey, but loud, low-frequency communication signals.”

CORROBORATED

Scientific papers and web results distinguish between echolocation clicks (used for foraging/hunting) and slow clicks, which are associated with communication and not foraging behavior.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Echolocation is used for navigation, foraging, and hunting prey.CF allows both the prey's velocity and its movements to be detected by means of the Doppler effect. FM may be best for close, cluttered …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_echolocation

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sperm whales produce different click types for echolocation and communication. Usual clicks and buzzes appear to be used primarily in foraging while codas are thought to function in social communicati…
https://www.academia.edu/95401369/The_function_of_male_sperm…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sperm whales produce different click types for echolocation and communication.Slow clicks were not associated with the production of buzzes, other echolocation clicks, or fast maneuvering that would i…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236662636_The_funct…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.