 |
| Paging Dr. Dolittle. We need a whale of a translation. Photo: Andrew Brigmond |
Think you could speak whale? Scientists are asking citizens to listen in on the conversations of pilot and killer whales to decipher their language and dialects.
The project, hosted by Scientific American, is called and asks listeners to match whale calls to improve our understanding of their language. To compare the calls, each is accompanied by a visual mapping out the sound鈥檚 shape.
Pilot and killer whales, which are technically large dolphins, have a range of songs and calls. Like close friends who have a secret language, tight-knit whale pods have distinct dialects for communicating with each other.
Using the matches made at Whale FM, scientists will categorize groups of calls and combine them with behavioral and location data to work out what whales are saying. The data can also help scientists learn how human activity鈥攕uch as military sonar, oil surveys, or construction鈥攁ffects whales. So, put your listening skills to the test, get out your headphones, and give it a try!
If you鈥檙e looking for other cool citizen science projects online, visit Zooniverse鈥檚 , which lets you join the crew of a historic ship, virtually follow the course, and use the ship log鈥檚 to help build climate models. You can also read up on on the Perch, or join the ultimate citizen science project for birders, .