- World News. A huge expanse found in Pacific waters
- World News. Scientists don't understand it: a football-sized fossilized egg has been found in Antarctica
Researchers from the SETI Institute have recently identified an unusual form of communication used by humpback whales in Earth's oceans, which may offer valuable insights for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
The phenomenon involves large bubble rings resembling smoke rings, produced underwater by the whales, which, according to the scientists, these bubble rings appear to be an intentional attempt by humpbacks to greet and interact with nearby humans.
This would mark the first documented observation of this behavior directed at people in the wild, with such bubble rings previously primarily associated with feeding behavior or mating displays, particularly by male whales.
The SETI research team now believes that humpbacks might have been trying to communicate with humans for years, but this interaction has not been closely studied until recently in a remarkable turn of events.
The team analyzed 12 episodes involving 11 different humpback whales between 2019 and 2023, and these observations, documented 39 bubble rings emitted from various platforms, including boats, research vessels, private ships, and aircraft.
The research, published in Marine Mammal Science, categorizes the production of bubble rings into three primary contexts: feeding, resting, and curiosity-with curiosity being the most frequent reason for their appearance near humans.
In nine cases, whales produced bubble rings in close proximity to boats and swimmers. The animals approached these humans calmly, exhibiting no aggressive behavior but instead showing playful actions such as splashing tails and spraying water from their blowholes.
These signs suggest the whales were relaxed and intentionally engaging with humans rather than acting out of instinct or stress, creating the impression that the humpbacks wanted to interact.
"They are blowing bubble rings in our direction," Dr. Fred Sharpe, co-lead author of the study, told Marine Mammal Science. "In an apparent attempt to playfully interact, observe our response, and/or engage in some form of communication."
Typically, the bubble rings measure six to 10 feet in diameter and rise to the ocean surface in a manner that resembles smoke rings, which are often accompanied by additional playful movements, such as circling boats or peeking at swimmers.
After releasing the bubble rings, the humpbacks frequently linger nearby, as if anticipating a response, implying a communicative intent. Scientists propose that this behavior may serve as a non-verbal greeting.
Could this help humans find aliens?
This discovery has broad implications, particularly for the search for intelligent life beyond Earth as the SETI Institute suggests that the whale bubble rings represent a previously unrecognized form of communication among non-human intelligent beings.
They propose that similar signals could exist in space, and understanding whale behavior could assist researchers in identifying and interpreting potential extraterrestrial messages.
The humpback behaviour could parallel how extraterrestrial civilizations might try to establish with Earth through targeted signals.
Previously, work from 2023 found scientists held a 20-minute 'conversation' with a humpback whale named Twain in Alaska, exchanging whale calls that mimicked human back-and-forth dialogue.
The WhaleSETI team emphasized the significance of these findings in relation to Drake's Equation, which estimates the number of communicative civilizations in our galaxy and was developed in 1961.