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Decoding whale language could unlock new legal rights for them

Ruben Bolling
Jun 11, 2026
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Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) has announced that it’s analyzed sperm whales’ pattern of vocalizations and broken it down into a complex phoenetic alphabet, including consonants and vowels. They are now collecting data with unobtrusive underwater devices and using that alphabet framework to analyze their vocalizations in an attempt to de…

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Ruben Bolling
Cartoonist/Writer and creator of the award-winning weekly comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug. Join Tom the Dancing Bug's Inner Hive at tomthedancingbug.com - (no dms pls)
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