Talk to Me

We've been trying to communicate with marine mammals for centuries. Here are some of our weird and wonderful attempts at inter-species conversation.

Humpback whales sing a different song for every season. Each whale pod has their own dialect. When one whale is being attacked by sharks or other whales, they let out a distress call and large marine mammals in the area show up to help. When a dolphin is pregnant and singing to her unborn baby, the rest of the pod falls silent so the baby can hear its mother.

These are just a few of the whale facts my friend Hannah, who used to be a whale acoustics researcher, told me over brunch a few months ago, and they became the impetus for this story. I’ve been trying to nail down why I was so easily captivated by these ideas. Perhaps it’s because we know more about outer space than the depths of the ocean. Or maybe it’s because as a surfer in northern California, I see these majestic creatures breaching to monolithic heights just beyond the lineup. My feet dangle in the same ocean, feeling so small and sometimes scared of the fathoms full of life flowing beneath me. 

Or maybe it’s because we have an innate tendency deeply rooted in our psyches to anthropomorphize, even though it’s irrational and scientifically inconclusive. We have been attributing human characteristics to animals for centuries in our stories and fables to teach morality and satiate our curiosity. 

The five vignettes that follow are incredible stories of humans, whales, and one horny dolphin, sharing respect, kinship, enamoration, devotion, and adoration.

Publication: Emocean Magazine, Issue 3. Summer 2022.

*This issue is out of print so the rest of the story is unavailable but I hope you like this clip.

Image: Songs of the Humpback Whale is a 1970 album produced by bio-acoustician Roger Payne.

Image: Excerpt from The Mind of the Dolphin: A Nonhuman Intelligence by John C. Lilly.