The team, known as Whale-SETI, has been conducting research on humpback whale communication systems, aiming to develop intelligence filters for the search for extraterrestrial life.
Scientists from the SETI Institute, University of California Davis, and the Alaska Whale Foundation made this amazing breakthrough in the field of non-human intelligence.
How to have a conversation with a whale
Using a recorded humpback “contact” call played into the sea through an underwater speaker, the scientists were amazed as Twain approached and circled their boat, responding in a conversational manner to the whale’s “greeting signal.”
Throughout the 20-minute exchange, Twain consistently matched the interval variations between each playback call.
The details of this extraordinary encounter can be found in the recent issue of the journal Peer J, titled “Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as a Tool for Detecting and Exploring Nonhuman Intelligence: ‘Conversing’ with an Alaskan Humpback Whale.”
Lead author Dr. Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis explains the significance of this whale conversation, stating, “We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback ‘language.'”
Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation further emphasizes the intelligence of humpback whales, highlighting their abilities to engage in complex social systems, create tools such as nets made of bubbles to catch fish, and extensively communicate through songs and social calls.
Whales and extraterrestrial intelligence
The behavior observed in humpback whales supports an important assumption in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Dr. Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute is another coauthor of the paper.
He explains, “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.”
Drawing parallels to studying Antarctica as a proxy for Mars, the Whale-SETI team is utilizing their findings from the study of intelligent, terrestrial, non-human communication systems to develop filters that can be applied to any potential extraterrestrial signals received.
Implications and future research
The team will be employing the mathematics of information theory to quantify the communicative complexity, such as the rule structure embedded in a received message.
