Whales Drink Sounds: Hearing may use an ancient path

Whales may receive sounds through the throat in addition to taking them in through the jaw, a new study finds. Understanding where sound enters the head of the Cuvier’s beaked whale could point to the original acoustic pathway for all whales and provide insight into how sonar affects the animals.

DEEP LISTENER. The Cuvier’s beaked whale prefers water more than 1,000 meters deep and mostly eats squid, detected by echolocation.