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Sperm whales make sounds like human vowels, scientists report

NPR | By Megan Lim,
Patrick Jarenwattananon
Published April 16, 2026 at 3:52 PM CDT

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.

Copyright 2026 NPR
Megan Lim
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Patrick Jarenwattananon
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
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