Whales use Kim Kardashian’s vocalizations from their noses to catch fish in the deep

About the episode

Toothed whales, like dolphins, killer whales and sperm whales, use sound both to communicate and to catch food. They can dive up to 2,000 meters deep and eat more fish than all the anglers in the world catch together.

When searching for food in dark, deep water, they use short, powerful ultrasonic echolocation clicks. They produce them up to 700 times per second to find, track and capture prey.

But for sound, you need vibrations. And for the vibrations of the air. How do you do that when you are swimming deep in the oceans under very high pressure? New research shows that these animals have developed a special sound source in their noses, with which they can produce different sound registers – just like us humans with our voice.

To grab food from the depths, they use their grating or squeaky voice. In English vocal fry. A register that is also often used by Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Scarlett Johannsen. This voice requires little air and this makes it very suitable in circumstances where the lungs are collapsing and air is tight.

Positioning the sound system in the nose allows animals to use 5 times more air pressure than a professional trumpeter. And with that, they produce the loudest sound in the entire animal kingdom.

A sound that – when searching for food in the depths – is emitted in the nose and sent through the skull into the water.

Learn more here: Toothed whales catch food from the depths using vocal fry.