You're correct, but op is also right to point out that the headline is misleading by grouping whale song and language together—it implies that this is something

You're correct, but op is also right to point out that the headline is misleading by grouping whale song and language together—it implies that this is something unique to human language, whereas the actual category to which these now both belong is much much bigger than language. An alternate headline that makes the point clear: "Whalesong patterns follow a universal law of human city populations". Equally true, but with much less dramatic implications.