In a captivating intersection of science and the extraordinary, a team of researchers recently engaged in what could be considered a groundbreaking conversation with a humpback whale in the deep waters of southeast Alaska. This unprecedented exchange between humans and a non-human intelligence has piqued the curiosity of scientists from the SETI Institute, the University of California, Davis, and the Alaska Whale Foundation.
The Whale-SETI team embarked on a mission to decipher the complex communication systems of humpback whales, not just for the sake of understanding these majestic marine creatures, but with the ambitious goal of developing intelligence filters for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The intriguing episode unfolded when the scientists played a recorded humpback ‘contact’ call into the sea via an underwater speaker, initiating an unexpected and mesmerizing interaction.
The marine protagonist of this unique encounter was a female humpback named Twain. In August 2021, for a captivating 20 minutes, Twain circled the researchers’ boat, responding in a conversational style to the ‘greeting signal’ played by the team. Dr. Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis, the lead author of the study recently published in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ, expressed enthusiasm about this communicative exchange.
“We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback ‘language,’” said Dr. McCowan, acknowledging the groundbreaking nature of the event.
As the researchers released 36 calls from the underwater speaker, Twain responded to each one, skillfully matching the interval variations between signals. Fred Sharpe, co-author and principal investigator with the Alaska Whale Foundation, reflected on the experience, stating, “It certainly felt like we had been heard, and we hope that she felt the same way, too.”
Humpback whales are renowned for their intelligence and extensive communication capabilities through songs and social calls. The implications of this study extend beyond marine biology; Laurance Doyle, an investigator at the SETI Institute, sees parallels between the whale’s actions and potential contact scenarios with extraterrestrial beings.
Doyle drew a fascinating comparison, explaining that just as Antarctica serves as a proxy for Mars in scientific studies, the behavior of humpback whales could offer insights into how alien races might initiate contact with humans. This aligns with the assumption in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence that extraterrestrials would be interested in making contact and targeting human receivers. The researchers at SETI, in collaboration with UC Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation, now aim to leverage their findings to create filters that could enhance the search for inhabitants from other planets. Their adaptive playback design seeks to understand the interactive and dynamical features of communicative behavior, providing a more potent tool for examining animal communication compared to traditional passive approaches.
In the quest to decode the language of humpback whales, scientists find not only a profound connection with Earth’s intelligent marine life but also potential insights into the complex language that may exist beyond our planet. As we delve into the depths of both the ocean and the cosmos, the lines of communication blur, offering a glimpse into the possibility of understanding the languages of the deep sea and, perhaps, even those from distant galaxies.
Source: (i) SETI-Institute; (ii) L. 2023. Interactive bioacoustic playback as a tool for detecting and exploring nonhuman intelligence: “conversing” with an Alaskan humpback whale. PeerJ 11:e16349 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16349
Cover photo: PIXABAY
