Researchers Held a 20-Minute Long Conversation With a Whale
Advancing technology is reshaping how people connect with and understand the natural world.
Humans aren’t the only social beings inhabiting planet Earth. Many animals live in complex colonies or family groups and engage in intricate interactions with each other.
Previously, the languages that animals communicate in remained beyond the realm of human comprehension.
However, according to the Daily Galaxy, advancing technology is starting to bridge the gap, reshaping how people connect with and understand the natural world. In a recent example, research published in PeerJ, details how artificial intelligence (AI) facilitated a 20-minute exchange with an Alaskan humpback whale. This short chat has implications that may reach even beyond the surface of the planet.
Whale Songs
Humpback whales are known for both their size and their songs, according to the Daily Galaxy. These marine mammals can grow up to 60-feet long and their haunting, melodic tunes can last up to 30 minutes.
“Humpback whales are extremely intelligent,” explained study coauthor Dr. Fred Sharpe, in a press release from the SETI Institute. “[Whales] have complex social systems, make tools — nets out of bubbles to catch fish — , and communicate extensively with both songs and social calls.”
The study, according to the press release, was completed in partnership between the Alaska Whale Foundation, the University of California Davis, and the SETI institute. The Whale-SETI team takes part in decoding and interacting with whales as a stand-in for potential future communication with extra-terrestrial intelligence.
A Conversations with Twain
According to Green Matters, the whale brain is particularly attuned to communicating through sound. Their auditory cortex is large and able to discern noises in many frequencies. In contrast to other animals that interact using other methods — such as vibrations, gaze, gesticulation, or bioluminescence, whales, like humans, communicate by hearing.
In 1980, a humpback whale nicknamed Twain was discovered off the coast of Hawaii. Just over two decades after humans made Twain’s acquaintance for the first time, a team of researchers had their first conversation with her near Frederick Sound, Alaska.
During the whup/throp, as the team described the interaction, researchers played a pre-recorded whale contact call for Twain, using an underwater speaker. The scientists observed Twain responding to the calls by circling the boat and making her own linguistic overtures.
The Daily Galaxy shared that an AI system analyzed Twain’s rejoinders. The findings showed that the whale song contained sequences and syntax that had commonalities with human language, confirming what was already known about whale intelligence and social behaviors
Learning about how to converse with whales may help researchers learn more about intelligent life under the ocean and on the land.. This short breakthrough interaction shows the power of and potential for building bridges across humans and the animals that share the planet and potential communication with other worlds.
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