Scientists have a 'conversation' with a humpback whale —which they hope will help mankind communicate with aliens

The team was assembled by the SETI Institute, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to search for extraterrestrial intelligence across the universe. While the organization normally looks to the skies, they turned their attention to the seas last winter.

"Whales are a proxy for aliens," animal behaviorist Dr. Josie Hubbard tells the Post. "They're intelligent creatures with a language that is foreign to us. The things we learn from communicating with whales could help us when it comes time to connect with aliens."

"Their language is complex," adds Lisa Walker, a whale song theorist who was part of the mission. "They make whoops and thrups and groans and squeaks. Their vocalizations are fascinating. We are trying to figure out what the vocalizations mean."

While the scientists believe some of the whale noises are merely social sounds, they hypothesize that other vocalizations have specific communication values. "They could be making commands," says Hubbard. "Go up, down, go here and there."

So what was the conversation between the scientists and the whale? And what did it mean?

In December 2023, the team was on a boat off the coast of Alaska. When they'd find a whale pod, they'd play underwater recordings of humpbacks. But despite their best efforts, most of the whales ignored them — or at least make no discernable acknowledgement of the sounds.

But then, a female humpback named Twain began circling their boat. As scientists played the recorded sounds, Twain began mimicking the noises and calling out to the boat, as if to say hello.

"It was a contact call," says Hubbard. "It's how the whales call to each other; they make whoops and thrups, and we believe that's how they determine each other's locations. And here we were having a unique encounter with Twain. She gave a resounding response."

"It might have just been us saying hello, and her responding hello, and us saying hello again," explains Walker, "but it was definite communication. She did it 36 times in 20 minutes, and only stopped after playback stopped."

A description and analysis of the encounter appears in a recent issue of the scientific journal Peer J. entitled "Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as a Tool for Detecting and Exploring Nonhuman Intelligence: 'Conversing' with an Alaskan Humpback Whale."

"We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback 'language,'" lead author Dr. Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis said in a statement.

"Humpback whales are extremely intelligent," added coauthor Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation. "They have complex social systems, make tools nets out of bubbles to catch fish, and communicate extensively with both songs and social calls."

So how will this help scientist communicate with otherworldly creatures?

"Language has structure," says Hubbard. "And if we can learn to communicate with a creature so different from us, then hopefully we will be able to use those same principles with intelligent beings that aren't from earth. It's fascinating research."