Orcas pod

Orcas or Killer whales (Orcinus orca) form small social groups, called pods, whose members display matched calls. Call matching may aid the whales in collaborative hunting and in finding and staying near to their pod mates. All the pods in a region make up a clan. Individual orcas produce some calls that are shared with clan members, but even more of their vocalizations are matched with pod mates. Thus, the learned vocalizations of orca whales reflect clan affiliation and also membership in a specific pod…

(read more: American Scientist - Vocal matching in Animals)
(photo: Francois Gohier/Photo Researchers)