The 1973 sci-fi political thriller The Day of the Dolphin, directed by Mike Nichols, features George C. Scott as a marine biologist who successfully teaches a pair of dolphins (Alpha and Beta) to understand and speak basic English. Critics and audiences generally view the movie as bizarre. Some critics felt that the premise — a marine biologist teaching dolphins to speak English, only for the animals to be kidnapped to assassinate the U.S. President — was ludicrous.
I laughed the first time I heard the dolphins "talk." They sounded like they had just inhaled helium. The film portrayed the dolphins as dumb beasts used as unwitting assassins, yet also capable of speaking.
Not one of George C. Scott's (Patton, Dr. Strangelove) best films.
Cetaceans, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are among the most intelligent species on Earth and have shown the same kind of intelligence as humans. They are self-aware; they understand the concepts of past, present, and future; and they demonstrate an understanding of what others can or cannot see or know, enabling complex cooperation, teaching, and deceptive behaviors.
Their brains are incredible, easily as complex as humans, and in some ways, superior. Their neocortex is heavily folded (gyrified), offering vast surface area for complex processing. They also have high numbers of what are known as spindle neurons, which in humans are tied to social cognition, empathy, self-awareness, and rapid decision-making.
Whale biologists have identified 156 distinct sounds made by whales. In captive environments, cetaceans have shown the ability to comprehend artificial symbolic languages, understand syntax (e.g., word order changing meaning), and grasp abstract concepts like time (past vs. future) and mimicry.
They mate for life, love their children, and grieve the loss of those close to them. Orca pods and sperm whale clans possess distinct vocal dialects, hunting tactics, and social customs that are culturally transmitted across generations rather than hardwired genetically.
They talk to each other. Why can't we develop the skill to talk with them?
“If we want to understand whale language, researchers will have to do something similar to what the Vikings did,” says Marit Lobben, who studies language and the brain at the University of Oslo.
The Vikings had no Rosetta Stone or other aids to learning a language. “We reckon they learned a lot by just jumping into it and trying to talk to people. They might have learned a few words and used body language. And then gradually learned a little more,” researcher Elise Kleivane said in an article in Science Norway.
Researchers now have a new tool to help them decipher whale language: artificial intelligence.
“It can help us compare whale sounds with human languages,” says Lobben.
If whales could write, they would have a very long alphabet. Researchers at CETI have identified as many as 156 different whale sounds.
To understand these sounds, researchers need a large number of audio recordings.
“Artificial intelligence can then help us identify patterns in these sounds,” says Lobben.
Researchers can also play whale sounds underwater and observe how the whales react.
The researchers aim to understand the language whales already use, but the whales themselves may also be able to help them along the way.
According to Lobben, Japanese researchers have shown that whales can learn new words.
“The researchers first trained the whale to associate four sounds with four different objects,” says Lobben.
What's needed is brute computing power to find patterns missed by previous, non-AI machines. Unfortunately, to understand a language, it would help to get visual cues and marry them to some of the sounds. Since whales don't use a "tone of voice," we are disadvantaged there as well.
It seems a near-impossible task at first glance. But there are humans who have a natural language gift and "see" syntax and structure in language that isn't apparent to the uninitiated.
The whale brain is like a giant walnut. It has lots of nooks and crannies that provide room for brain cells and fast connections.
Some researchers believe whales may be able to reflect and reason in ways similar to us, recall the past, and plan for the future.
"We have also found something called spindle cells in the whale brain," says Lobben.
Researchers call these the nervous system’s ‘express trains.’ The cells transmit large amounts of information quickly. There are lots of them in the beluga whale’s brain.
"Spindle cells are associated with intelligence, language, and love," she says.
Certain bottlenose dolphins use marine sponges attached to their beaks to protect themselves while foraging on the seafloor, a technique taught by mothers to their offspring. Adapting a "tool" for a specific use is a sign of a highly sophisticated intelligence.
Cetaceans began on land and then, over millions of years, adapted to the water. They are far older than primates, from which humans evolved. What secrets might their brains hold of the past?
I'd like to ask them someday.
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