How the first human-whale conversation could help us talk to aliens

Scientists recently held the first known “conversation” with a humpback whale in its native language – aside from Dory, of course – in an experiment aimed at providing insight into how humans could one day communicate with alien lifeforms, according to a recent study.

The research team was led by the SETI Institute, a nonprofit with a mission to search for extraterrestrial intelligence. And, while the organization normally looks to the skies, its scientists did their best impression of Sebastian from Little Mermaid and focused 🎶under the sea🎶 for this experiment.

Here’s what happened: The researchers played underwater recordings of humpback whales to others of the same species gathered off the coast of Alaska. While most of the whales ignored them, a female named Twain started circling their boat and mimicking the noises.

• Twain evidently had a lot to say – over the next 20 minutes, she responded to the researchers' calls by matching the interval variations between each recorded playback.
• “So, if she waited 10 seconds, I waited 10 seconds. We ended up matching each other. We did this 36 times,” said UC Davis scientist Brenda McCowan.
• The scientific team said their next step is to try having more in-depth “conversations” with humpback whales.

🐳 Bottom line: The SETI Institute believes whales represent a proxy for aliens that humans might encounter on another planet, since they’re intelligent creatures whose sounds contain complex messages similar to human languages.