In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with the SETI Institute, have successfully engaged in a communicative exchange with a humpback whale in Southeast Alaska. This interaction not only provides insights into interspecies communication but also holds potential implications for detecting and interpreting signals from extraterrestrial intelligence.
The research team, including animal behaviorist Dr. Brenda McCowan from UC Davis and astrophysicist Dr. Laurance Doyle from the SETI Institute, conducted playback experiments in Holkham Bay, Alaska. They utilized underwater speakers to broadcast recorded humpback whale “whup” calls—a sound believed to function as a contact or greeting signal among these marine mammals.
During the experiment, a 38-year-old female humpback whale, identified as “Twain,” approached the researchers’ vessel and engaged in a back-and-forth exchange of “whup” calls. Over a 20-minute period, Twain responded to each playback, mirroring the interval variations between the calls. This marked the first documented instance of a human-initiated, call-and-response interaction with a humpback whale using the whale’s natural communication signals.
Dr. McCowan expressed astonishment at the event, stating, “I’ve been studying animal communication for 30-plus years, and I’ve never experienced anything like that.” Dr. Doyle highlighted the broader significance of the study, noting that understanding non-human communication systems on Earth can inform the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. He emphasized that the willingness of humpback whales to engage in such exchanges supports the assumption that intelligent extraterrestrial beings might also seek to make contact.
The research team plans to continue their studies, analyzing the structure and patterns of humpback whale communications to develop “intelligence filters.” These filters aim to identify and interpret complex communication signals, potentially applicable to both terrestrial and extraterrestrial contexts.
This pioneering work not only enhances our understanding of humpback whale behavior and communication but also provides a valuable framework for developing methodologies to detect and interpret potential signals from intelligent extraterrestrial sources.
