The study of non-human animal signals challenges and informs our search for non-human intelligence with the ultimate hope of deepening the human-animal relationship.<\/p>\n
The diversity of non-human intelligence that exists on Earth has been revealed in a multitude of observational and experimental studies over the past several decades.<\/p>\n
This diversity is observed from octopus to ravens to elephants to whales, thus manifesting itself in a variety of both terrestrial and non-terrestrial environments.<\/p>\n
Similar to studying Antarctica as a proxy for Mars, the Whale-SETI team is studying non-human communication systems to develop filters to apply to any extraterrestrial signals received.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne needs look no further for a non-terrestrial form of intelligence than in the remarkable acoustic, behavioral and social versatility of the humpback whale,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n
In 2021, they had a rare and opportunistic acoustic turn-taking with a 38+ year-old adult female humpback whale, known as Twain, in Southeast Alaska.<\/p>\n
In response to a recorded humpback \u2018contact\u2019 call played into the sea via an underwater speaker, Twain approached and circled the team\u2019s boat, while responding in a conversational style to the whale \u2018greeting signal.<\/p>\n
During the 20-minute exchange, Twain responded to each playback call and matched the interval variations between each signal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback \u2018language\u2019,\u201d said Dr. Brenda McCowan, a researcher at the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumpback whales are extremely intelligent, have complex social systems, make tools \u2014 nets out of bubbles to catch fish \u2014 and communicate extensively with both songs and social calls,\u201d said Dr. Fred Sharpe, a researcher at the Alaska Whale Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause 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,\u201d said Dr. Laurance Doyle, a researcher at SETI Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis important assumption is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study appears online in the journal PeerJ.<\/p>\n
B. McCowan et al. 2023. Interactive bioacoustic playback as a tool for detecting and exploring nonhuman intelligence: \u201cconversing\u201d with an Alaskan humpback whale. PeerJ 11: e16349; doi: 10.7717\/peerj.16349<\/p>\n