To the casual human listener, the love song of a humpback whale sounds magnificently free-flowing and improvised. But fresh mathematical analysis of the song shows there are complex grammatical rules. Using syntax, the whales combine sounds into phrases, which they further weave into hours-long melodies packed with information. Although the researchers say these songs don’t meet the linguistic rigor necessary for a true language, this is the first evidence that animals other than humans use a hierarchical structure of communication. Whales have also been found to sing in dialects. The study is detailed online in the March issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The sound of love Many animals use sight and smell to communicate, but these senses are limited in the ocean. Whales rely on sound, which travels four times faster in water than in air. During mating season, which lasts six months, all humpback males sing the same song to woo the ladies. Over time, the group’s song becomes progressively more complex, although researchers don’t know quite why. Presumably, as one whale finds mating success by tinkering with the song style, the rest of the guys imitate it […]