Scientists Study the Bubble Smoke Rings by Humpback Whales, Claim it Could Help Communicate With Aliens

In the huge, blue expanse of Earth’s oceans, mysterious behavior often surfaces, sometimes quite literally. Among the most intelligent and social marine mammals, humpback whales are already known to showcase a stunning range of complex actions. But just when we thought we understood the emotional and social depth of these ocean giants,  they’ve thrown us a spectacular curveball. Recently, scientists from the SETI Institute and the University of California at Davis documented something extraordinary, a behavior never seen before, as per the BBC.

For the first time in recorded scientific observation, humpback whales have been seen blowing stable bubble rings toward humans during friendly interactions. Dr. Fred Sharpe, co-lead author, remarked, “Humpback whales live in complex societies, are acoustically diverse, use bubble tools and assist other species being harassed by predators…Now... we show they are blowing bubble rings in our direction in an apparent attempt to playfully interact, observe our response, and/or engage in some form of communication,” as per Science Daily. These ethereal rings, eerily similar to smoke rings exhaled by human smokers, appear to be more than just a party trick of the sea. They might actually be a form of communication.

The researchers observed 12 different episodes involving 11 whales across several global populations. A total of 39 individual bubble rings were documented, all released during voluntary approaches by the whales toward swimmers or boats. The study, published in Marine Mammal Science, suggests that these ring formations could be expressions of curiosity, playfulness, or even an attempt to reach out across species lines. co-lead author Jodi Frediani remarked, “Humpback whales often exhibit inquisitive, friendly behaviour towards boats and human swimmers…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 behaviour,” as per The Debrief.

Humpbacks have long been known for their use of bubbles as tools—for example, forming "bubble nets" to trap schools of fish, or laying down bubble trails during mating rituals. Co-author Dr. Laurance Doyle remarked, “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…This important assumption is certainly supported by the independent evolution of curious behaviour in humpback whales,” as per the BBC.

But none of those scenarios apply here. The context and consistency of these rings point to something different, something intentional. The research is part of the WhaleSETI project, which studies whale intelligence as a model for recognizing signals from extraterrestrial civilizations, as per the BBC. The idea? If we want to detect intelligent life beyond Earth, understanding non-human intelligence on Earth is a logical place to start.