Pilot Whale
Whales use a language of song to communicate with each other. The noises whales make have been referred to as "undeciphered broadcasts from an alien civilization." Scientists know that these songs are complex, full of meaning and possibly emotion.
Each unique species of whale (in this experiment, orcas and pilot whales), have their own language. But within these languages, are colloquial patterns that make individuals and pods identifiable.
Scientific American and Zooniverse have come together to create The Whale Song Project in 2011. It enables what they call, "citizen scientists" to help analyze and categorize the songs of pilot whales and orcas (killer whales). The project hopes to take advantage of our ability to hear patterns better than computers. The utilization of as many participants as possible sorts data more accurately.
Each unique species of whale (in this experiment, orcas and pilot whales), have their own language. But within these languages, are colloquial patterns that make individuals and pods identifiable.
Scientific American and Zooniverse have come together to create The Whale Song Project in 2011. It enables what they call, "citizen scientists" to help analyze and categorize the songs of pilot whales and orcas (killer whales). The project hopes to take advantage of our ability to hear patterns better than computers. The utilization of as many participants as possible sorts data more accurately.
Orca (Killer Whale)
Little is known about pilot whales, because they don't spend much of their life near populated coastlines. Orcas on the other hand, we know more about. They are highly social, living in close-knit, matriarchal families. The families use songs to communicate with each other when separated - even able to listen to a member of its own pod if unrelated whales are singing.
Although there are many similarities between pilot whales and orcas. Both of these mammals are actually dolphin, they live with their mothers until maturity, and both species have complex songs that have high-frequency tones changing independently from low-frequency tones.
As a Citizen Scientist, you can listen to over 15 000 different whale songs, matching songs to the initial "main call," you'll listen to. The site also allows viewers who may be more visually inclined to look at spectrograms of songs for comparison. Each one of these songs is geotagged to a location on the planet where it was recorded. Allowing us to find similarities and differences in whale-communication on a global scale.
Although there are many similarities between pilot whales and orcas. Both of these mammals are actually dolphin, they live with their mothers until maturity, and both species have complex songs that have high-frequency tones changing independently from low-frequency tones.
As a Citizen Scientist, you can listen to over 15 000 different whale songs, matching songs to the initial "main call," you'll listen to. The site also allows viewers who may be more visually inclined to look at spectrograms of songs for comparison. Each one of these songs is geotagged to a location on the planet where it was recorded. Allowing us to find similarities and differences in whale-communication on a global scale.
Listen to as few, or as many as you'd like. You'll be actively helping scientists decipher a huge amount of this submarine language.
Go to whale.fm to listen
Go to whalesong.net to learn
RSS Feed
