When This Ship's a'Rockin': Whale Report

The Daily Ostrich isn't a "newsy" sort of newspaper, but neither is any other newspaper, these days. Still, our readers depend on us to keep them abreast of the latest whale news, and we do our best. Much has happened in the whale world since our last Whale Report. Let's unpack the two biggest headlines.

Scientists Chat With Humpback Whale
An animal-language research team has reported the first back-and-forth vocal conversation between human beings and a humpback whale. The researchers drove their boat within hailing distance of an Alaskan humpback pod, and played a "contact call," also known as a "whup" or "throp," from an underwater speaker. Upon hearing the throp, a female humpback named Twain approached the boat and sang a whup of her own. For the next twenty minutes, Twain swam around the boat, speaking and listening in turn with the scientists.

A transcript of the conversation follows:
Boat: Hey
Whale: Hey
Boat: Hey
Whale: Hey
Boat: Hey
Whale: I said hey. What do you need?
Boat: Hey
Whale: —Hey
...
(Continues as above for 22 minutes.)

Obviously I'm excited that we biped folks are learning to speak whale, even if we sound extremely square. I also think it's cool that two of the five pieces of equipment used for the experiment—a Macintosh computer and Zoom H1 audio recorder—are on my desk as I write this. If I can get my hands on a CRT-SQ26 cetacean research hydrophone, a Lubell LL916 cage-mounted underwater speaker, and a deep water ship, I could be chatting with the whales tomorrow morning! (By the time you read this, assume I'm there.)

Since this is supposedly the first conversation between humans and whales, it seems fishy that the researchers already know the whale's name. I presume they're further along in their research than they've said, and jucier details will come out in future papers—perhaps some inter-species gossip, or a bit of friendly trolling. Still, this first chat is a big milestone, and there's good evidence that it counts as a real conversation. The paper notes three phases of Twain's participation in the exchange: engagement, agitation, and disengagement—exactly the same response I get from my conversation partners!

For future experiments, the researchers say they need speakers optimized for the whale's broad hearing range. They've proposed some work-arounds for the equipment they have, but the simplest answer, now that they've opened a channel of communication, is to buy gear directly from the whales.

Are Sailboat Attacks an Orca Fad?
An international research committee has been working to understand the ongoing spate of yacht attacks by orcas near the Iberian Peninsula. At least 673 sailboats have been rammed by the whales, including three that capsized or sank. In a recent report, the committee outlined their current hypothesis for this behavior: it's a teenage craze.

“This looks like play,” senior scientist Naomi Rose told the Washington Post. “It’s a very dangerous game they’re playing, obviously. But it’s a game.” Rose said the whales aren't showing signs of aggression during these events, and noted that nearly all such behavior has involved male whales in their teenage years, who have been seen teaching and goading each other to ram a boat's rudder.

It's not the first time teenage orcas have gone in for a fad. In the summer of 1987—I promise you this is documented—a Puget Sound orca named Gladys started carrying a dead salmon on her head. Her friends followed suit, and soon all the cool whales from two different pods were wearing salmon hats.

Ramming events are dangerous for humans and whales alike, but the researchers think the danger may be part of the thrill. If so, this may be essentially an orca version of the Tide-pod challenge, and not the first rumblings of a whale revolution. A shame, I think you'll agree.