“They educate their calves for 15 years,” he says. “Why do they do this? What do they need 15 years for? To catch some squid? I don’t think so.” Indeed, sperm whales possess the largest brain in the animal kingdom, and their neocortex, the part of the brain that controls higher-level function, including cognitive behaviour, perception and language, is six times larger than a human’s, and far denser. They also possess spindle cell neurones, which are most commonly associated with empathy. This evidence suggests that sperm whales, among other cetaceans, have brains that allow them to feel emotion, intuition and goes some way to explain just how diverse their communications truly are. “Firstly, we have to ask, what is consciousness? And then we have to ask, how can we say that we are more conscious than them?” says Schnöller. “We are not so different. These animals are very social, they have empathy, and you can feel it when you meet them, but you can also take it from the scientific, biological angle too.”