The team had a 20-minute conversation with a humpback named Twain in her own language by using contact calls, a simple call that lets other whales know they are in the vicinity. (Image credit: Pixabay)
A team of scientists from the University of California Davis, the Alaska Whale Foundation and the SETI Institute came together to communicate with whales and were successful in their efforts. The breakthrough could help scientists communicate with non-human intelligence, including those from different planets.
In the landmark experiment, the team held a conversation with a humpback whale, known as Twain, for 20 minutes in her language. While there was no small talk about life under the sea or any meaningful information passed from one species to another, they did manage to exchange “contact calls.” These types of calls, sung in whale songs, are essentially greeting calls that let other whales know you are in the area.
The scientist ran their experiment off the coast of Alaska and played the song in hopes of making contact with humpback whales. A short time later, Twain swam up to the boat and began circling it, most likely wondering what was going on near the boat. For the next 20 minutes, the scientists emitted the same contact call 36 different times at varying intervals, and Twain responded to the call each time, even closely matching the intervals. The scientists speculate that the female humpback was engaged in intentional communication exchange. “We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback “language,” stated Dr. Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis.
Not only was the experiment a crucial step forward in helping scientists to communicate with whales, but it will also help them to develop filters that could be applied to 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. This important assumption is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales,” stated Dr. Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute.
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