Scientists Think Whales Might Be Reaching Out to Humans

We often wonder if animals are trying to tell us something. In the sci-fi story The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, dolphins say goodbye to humans before leaving Earth.

They do it with a final message: “So long, and thanks for all the fish.” But since they deliver it through hoop jumps, no one seems to understand it.

Now, researchers are asking a similar question about humpback whales. Are these whales also trying to reach out to us in their own way?

A team from the SETI Institute in California believes so, according to Videnskab. They study signs of intelligent life, usually beyond Earth.

Blowing Bubble Rings

But this time, they’ve turned their attention to the ocean. They have collected several examples of humpback whales blowing bubble rings in the presence of humans.

These bubble rings look like smoke rings. The whales seem to direct them at people in boats. The scientists think the animals may be trying to interact or play.

SETI researcher Fred Sharpe explains that humpbacks live in complex social groups. They use sounds to communicate.

They even protect other animals from predators. According to him, the whales might be watching our reactions when they send the rings. He believes it could be an effort to start a form of contact with us.

The researchers studied 12 bubble-ring events involving 11 different whales. In total, they documented 39 rings.

Unusual Behaviour

The behavior stood out because the whales seemed calm and friendly when blowing the bubbles.

Scientists already knew that male humpbacks use bubble rings during mating rituals. But this new behavior suggests something more.

There’s another reason why this matters to SETI. If humans ever meet life from another planet, communication probably won’t happen with words.

In movies like Arrival and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, aliens use sound and symbols.

The SETI team believes that learning how animals here on Earth try to communicate with us might help us prepare for contact with life elsewhere.

So maybe these bubble rings aren’t just a trick. Maybe they’re a message. One we should try harder to understand.