Sperm whales found to live in large, matrilineally based clans

A sperm whale expert at Dalhousie University, in Canada, has found evidence showing that sperm whales form large matrilineally based clans that have their own coda dialect. In his paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, Hal Whitehead describes how he, working with multiple colleagues over many years, used underwater microphones to listen in on conversations among the whales.