All animals communicate, and Eva Saulitis of the North Gulf Oceanic Society in Homer, Alaska discovered some interesting
marine mammal clicks and calls. Saulitis found that killer whales have unusual wails when looking for their group or pod. The
wails consist of an extremely rapid series of different, loud sound, which each animal produces, in its own unique tone.
Different populations have their own distinct calls, even those in the same species. Some whales engage in echolocation - the
art of bouncing click sounds off prey or objects in order to locate and identify them. Whales that use this technique can send
clicks in specific directions to reveal an animal's nature and location. Unfortunately, all whales do not have the anatomy
required to make click sounds, so they engage in chatter, which sounds like a moan or groan. Studying whale communication
can be complicated for researchers, but decoding whales' secret languages and understanding their use of sound in the wild is
becoming more popular.
by Tina Alder
http://www.blarg.net/~critter/articles/behavior/whale1.html