Nature & Environment

Scientists have conversation with a whale in world-first experiment

By T.K. Randall
December 19, 2023 ·  10 comments

The whale, known as 'Twain', was quite talkative. Image Credit: Pixabay / 12019 The breakthrough, which marks the first time anyone has succeeded in having a conversation with a whale in the animal's own language, was achieved by a team of researchers comprised of experts from UC Davis, the Alaska Whale Foundation and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).

Alien hunters have long had an interest in deciphering whale communication because it is perhaps the closest we can get to learning how to understand and speak to intelligent extraterrestrials.

To initiate contact, the team used underwater speakers to play a "contact call" (similar to a human greeting) from a boat in Alaska.

Before long, a humpback whale nicknamed 'Twain' had arrived on the scene.Over the course of 20 minutes, the team repeatedly played back the contact call at various intervals and Twain would respond with a reciprocal call that closely matched the timing of the intervals.

"We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback 'language'," said study lead author Dr. Brenda McCowan of UC Davis.

Not only was the experiment a major step forward in our efforts to communicate with whales, it has also helped scientists to develop filters that could be applied to potential extraterrestrial signals.

"Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrials will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers," said study co-author Dr. Laurance Doyle of the SETI Insitute.

"This important assumption is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales."

Source: Science Alert | Comments (10)

Tags: Whale, Alien