The World’s Most Mis-named, Mis-Heard Whale
A reader of my new book about the cultures of free-living animals, Becoming Wild, wrote to me to offer a slight realignment to something I’d said. It’s pretty interesting.
In the book I wrote, “Sperm whales were thought silent until 1957, when scientists published the first description of their sonar. Whale hunters never heard the clicking sounds these whales make.”
Before I get to what the reader corrected, you need to know that his term for this species, Cachalot, is an old alternate name, though seldom used. He uses it because, “Sperm whale is probably one of the most misguided names ever bestowed.” I agree. See this essay.
Getting back to the main point: the reader wrote, “Actually, the old whalers of wooden ship times did hear the sounds of Cachalot — but did not know what they were. The sounds were said to come from “Carpenter Fish,” because classic sounds of echo-locating Cachalot sounds like a carpenter, nailing some lumber.”
