Humpback Whale Bubble Rings May Be an Attempt to Communicate With Us
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known for blowing spiral bubble nets to hunt with, but not all bubbles have the same meaning in the world of whales. Some are intended to be playful; some frisky; and others are downright aggressive.
The particular genre of bubble-blowing documented in the report took the form of perfect circles, similar to ones described by biologist Roger Payne as "madly spinning doughnut-shaped clouds that look like giant smoke rings about three feet in diameter that rise rapidly to the surface."
An international team of biologists and photographers reviewed videos and photos of whales producing bubble rings, taken from below the water by a swimmer or overboard from a boat, and above the surface either from a boat, a plane, or a drone.
This variety of sources adds to the context in which the whales produce their rings, particularly important if we want to know whether they're meant as communication with humans or not.
Their data included a dozen separate examples of rings being made by the whales, equalling a total of 39 bubble rings generated by 11 different humpback whales.
"Out of the 12 episodes of ring production reported here, ten episodes were collected near a boat or human swimmers, while six episodes had more than one whale present," the researchers report.
"Despite these ample opportunities for intra- and interspecies aggression, there was no evidence of agonism toward conspecifics or aggression toward boats or swimmers in any of the ring episodes."
Quite the contrary, in fact. Far from showing signs of avoiding humans, eight of nine ring blowers approached the boat or swimmers, with exceptions to when they were blowing bubbles while feeding.
Whales of many different species have been observed exhaling near research and tourist vessels, exhibiting playful and friendly behavior. Intentionally blowing bubbles may be one more sign of wilful interaction, much as we might engage with other animals in whimsical acts of fun.
While these facts support the fantastic notion of whale-to-human communication, we're going to need a lot more data before we can be sure of the true meaning of these effervescent messages – and whether they're really intended for us at all.
"Whatever the reason for their creation, maintaining vigilance in the field will help elucidate the frequency and function of bubble rings," the researchers write.
"Both playful and communicative overtures of bubble rings may hold deeper meaning for humpback whales and their potential for interspecies communication."
The research is published in Marine Mammal Science.
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Scientific American
19-06-2025
- Scientific American
Humpback Whales Are Blowing ‘Bubble Rings' at Boats. Are They Trying to Communicate?
Humpback whales are known for their extensive use of bubbles—from powerful, aggressive bursts that prove their prowess during courtship to the bubble-net 'curtains' they produce to round up prey in a spectacle that often draws tourists from around the world. Now a new study published in Marine Mammal Science explores rare instances when humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) create dramatic, doughnut-shaped vortex bubbles that look like a rolling underwater smoke ring. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Video credit: Simon Hilbourne, Molly Gaughan, Karime Nicholas Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and their colleagues at other institutions—including the SETI Institute, which is known for focusing on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) but is also interested in nonhuman intelligences on Earth—were looking for examples of whales' general bubble behavior when they uncovered a striking video taken by videographer Dan Knaub in 1988. In the footage, a humpback called 'Thorn' blows 19 bubble structures—including 11 rings—over a 10-minute period. 'We were just gobsmacked—like, 'What the hell is going on?'' says Fred Sharpe, a whale biologist at U.C. Davis. 'For a team that's interested in assisting astrobiologists parse unusual signals coming from deep space, it just fell real neatly into our paradigm.... It's so bizarre.' Sharpe and his colleagues soon found more examples on social media and from other researchers. Study co-author Jodi Frediani, a wildlife photographer who is also at U.C. Davis, even noticed a telltale circle in a photograph a friend showed during a presentation about humpback whales. With this phenomenon on her mind, she says, 'I went, 'Gee, there's a bubble ring!'' For the study, the team recorded 12 events across the North and South Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans in which 11 individual humpbacks were seen blowing bubble rings. The researchers described 39 rings in total. 'It's not a lot in the world of whales but enough—and in multiple oceans,' Frediani says. 'It's a really fun paper,' says Syracuse University biologist Susan E. Parks, who studies bubble-net feeding in humpbacks and wasn't involved in the new study. 'It reads like a detective story that's trying to piece together information about something that's not widely studied and happens rarely.' Parks hasn't observed any bubble rings herself—as far as she knows, she says, 'I may have seen them before and never really thought anything of them.' Despite compiling so many examples of the rings, Sharpe still doesn't know what to think about their purpose. 'My guess is that this is what it's going to feel like when we first make contact with aliens,' he says. The researchers speculate that the behavior could be playful. One whale would blow a bubble ring and then swim through it or 'do a spy hop right through the middle of it,' Frediani says—when performing such a spy hop, the whale would peep its head vertically above the surface, right through the bubble ring. Or perhaps the animals' behavior could respresent curiosity toward humans: of the 12 recorded events, nine involved whales that approached the human observers more closely before they blew rings. 'We need the entire human brain trust's help deciphering this. It's almost like [the whales'] blowhole is a mouth, and the symbols coming out are bubbles, as opposed to sounds.' —Fred Sharpe University of California, Davis Could the whales be trying to communicate with us? Sharpe doesn't rule this out as a possibility. He posits that the presence of humans seems to trigger bubble blowing and that humpbacks improve with practice. 'This may be a species-atypical signal that's crafted for people,' he says, 'whales reaching out to humans ... using their own parlance, their own form of communication.' Parks thinks it's plausible that the animals are putting on a display for humans, but she adds that it's too soon to tell with such a small sample size. 'They'd want a lot more [observations] before they could say with certainty,' she says. Because most of the observations were made by people, this could skew the data, she notes, although there were 'two observations from planes, so we know [the whales] do produce them [bubble rings] when people aren't present, too.' Now that more researchers know to look for these bubble rings, Parks says, reported sightings may greatly increase. With more data, Sharpe and his colleagues hope to figure out what the purpose of these swirling doughnuts of air is—and whether the rings could possibly contain information. 'We need the entire human brain trust's help deciphering this,' Sharpe says. 'It's almost like [the whales'] blowhole is a mouth, and the symbols coming out are bubbles, as opposed to sounds.' Sharpe hopes footage from the study will help people feel connected with whales and make them want to protect the animals from human threats such as ship strikes, entanglement, noise and chemical pollution, habitat loss and disruption of the food web. He says that he also wants to find a way to let the whales 'know that they've been heard.' For him, trying to decipher potential messages and find a way to respond puts the team 'in the same place you would be if you were trying to communicate with aliens—and you got a message.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Humpback Whale Bubble Rings May Be an Attempt to Communicate With Us
Humpback whales caught blowing giant bubble rings underwater may have been attempting some kind of communication with their audience of human onlookers, a new study suggests. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known for blowing spiral bubble nets to hunt with, but not all bubbles have the same meaning in the world of whales. Some are intended to be playful; some frisky; and others are downright aggressive. The particular genre of bubble-blowing documented in the report took the form of perfect circles, similar to ones described by biologist Roger Payne as "madly spinning doughnut-shaped clouds that look like giant smoke rings about three feet in diameter that rise rapidly to the surface." An international team of biologists and photographers reviewed videos and photos of whales producing bubble rings, taken from below the water by a swimmer or overboard from a boat, and above the surface either from a boat, a plane, or a drone. This variety of sources adds to the context in which the whales produce their rings, particularly important if we want to know whether they're meant as communication with humans or not. Their data included a dozen separate examples of rings being made by the whales, equalling a total of 39 bubble rings generated by 11 different humpback whales. "Out of the 12 episodes of ring production reported here, ten episodes were collected near a boat or human swimmers, while six episodes had more than one whale present," the researchers report. "Despite these ample opportunities for intra- and interspecies aggression, there was no evidence of agonism toward conspecifics or aggression toward boats or swimmers in any of the ring episodes." Quite the contrary, in fact. Far from showing signs of avoiding humans, eight of nine ring blowers approached the boat or swimmers, with exceptions to when they were blowing bubbles while feeding. Whales of many different species have been observed exhaling near research and tourist vessels, exhibiting playful and friendly behavior. Intentionally blowing bubbles may be one more sign of wilful interaction, much as we might engage with other animals in whimsical acts of fun. While these facts support the fantastic notion of whale-to-human communication, we're going to need a lot more data before we can be sure of the true meaning of these effervescent messages – and whether they're really intended for us at all. "Whatever the reason for their creation, maintaining vigilance in the field will help elucidate the frequency and function of bubble rings," the researchers write. "Both playful and communicative overtures of bubble rings may hold deeper meaning for humpback whales and their potential for interspecies communication." The research is published in Marine Mammal Science. New Tyrannosaur Species Could Be a Missing Link to The Giants The World's Largest Organism Is Slowly Being Eaten First Evidence of a Sauropod's Last Meal Shows How They Ate Their Food
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
How humpback whales are playfully communicating with humans, according to scientists
Humpback whales may be communicating with humans in a playful way, according to researchers who have been studying the marine mammals' behavior. Researchers from the SETI Institute, a Silicon Valley-based nonprofit research organization, documented humpback whales producing large bubble rings -- similar to the rings humans can produce while blowing smoke -- during friendly interactions with humans, they noted in a paper published last month in the journal Marine Mammal Science. MORE: 50th anniversary of 'Jaws': How the film impacted public perception of sharks This behavior, while little studied, could represent play or communication, the scientists said. Humpback whales were already known to use bubbles to corral, and males have been observed creating bubble trails or bursts when competing for a female mate, according to the SETI Institute. But new observations that appear to show humpback whales producing bubble rings during friendly encounters with humans contributes to a broader goal of studying non-human intelligence, the scientists said. Studying non-human intelligence can aid in the search for extraterrestrial life, the researchers said. The SETI whale team is aiming to develop filters that aid in parsing cosmic signals for signs of extraterrestrial life by studying intelligent, non-terrestrial -- or aquatic -- nonhuman communication systems, according to the research organization. "Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrial intelligence and life will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers," Laurance Doyle, SETI Institute scientist and co-author on the paper, said in a statement. "This important assumption is certainly supported by the independent evolution of curious behavior in humpback whales." Researchers analyzed 12 bubble ring–production episodes involving 39 rings made by 11 individual whales, they said. They determined the whales are blowing bubble rings in the direction of humans in an apparent attempt to playfully interact, observe humans' response and engage in some form of communication, Fred Sharpe, a co-author of the paper, said in a statement. "Humpback whales live in complex societies, are acoustically diverse, use bubble tools and assist other species being harassed by predators," Sharpe, who is a legacy board member of the Alaska Whale Foundation, said. MORE: Scientists discover how whales can sing under water and how shipping noise can disrupt communication Humpback whales often display "inquisitive, friendly behavior" toward boats and humans, according to Jodi Frediani, a marine wildlife photographer and paper co-author. "We've now located a dozen whales from populations around the world, the majority of which have voluntarily approached boats and swimmers blowing bubble rings during these episodes of curious behavior," Frediani said. For decades, scientists have been studying how intelligent marine mammals such as whales and dolphins communicate with each other. In 2021, researchers from the SETI Institute recorded a conversation with a humpback whale named Twain by playing whale calls through an underwater speaker. MORE: Ocean scientists concerned over uptick of whale deaths on Northeast coasts Last year, another group of researchers at the University of Southern Denmark discovered how baleen whales are able to sing underwater. Also in 2024, SETI Institute researchers discovered that whale calls made during bubble feeding events were likely a way for whales to issue instructions to the group.
