Toothed whales use 'vocal fry' to hunt for food, scientists say

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/03/ [login to see] /toothed-whales-use-vocal-fry-to-hunt-for-food-scientists-say
Coen Elemans was waiting for his flight to take off at the Copenhagen Airport. Numerous safety and passenger announcements cascaded out of the intercom.

"They normally never say anything at this airport!" observed Elemans, a bioacoustician at the University of Southern Denmark. "They're very vocal today."

He says the airport is as good a place as any to listen to the different ways people vocalize.

"What I hear is a lot of people talking," he notes. "They're mostly using what's called the chest register." That's our typical speaking voice.

Then, Elemans notices some music playing. It's the situation where we most often hear our higher-pitched vocal register on display — falsetto.

We also have a lower register, below the frequency range where we usually talk. That's vocal fry. In English, it's usually regarded as an affect — something that changes the emotion or attitude of what's said. Certain people are known for it, like Kim Kardashian or Leonard Cohen. In other languages like Danish, Elemans says it alters the meaning of words.