---
title: "Scientists Suggest Teaching Ships to Speak Whale Language"
description: "A team of scientists has a new idea for how to save migrating blue whales from dangerous collisions with ships: Shut up and listen. It turns out that there’s a distinct change in the blue whale’s song just before it begins its annual migration south, Popular Science reports. By paying attention to those […]"
date: "2020-10-02"
modified: "2020-10-02"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-teaching-ships-speak-whale-language"
categories:
  - "Biology"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "biology"
  - "the digest"
  - "whales"
---

# Scientists Suggest Teaching Ships to Speak Whale Language

![Scientists identified a change in blue whales' songs that signals they're about to migrate south. They say it could be used to warn ships in the area.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/learning-speak-whale-protect-animals-ship-strikes.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Natural England\</em\>*

## Decoder Ring

A team of scientists has a new idea for how to save migrating blue whales from dangerous collisions with ships: shut up and listen.

It turns out that there's a distinct change in the blue whale's song just before it begins its annual migration south, *[Popular Science ](<https://www.popsci.com/story/animals/blue-whale-song-migration/>)*[reports](<https://www.popsci.com/story/animals/blue-whale-song-migration/>). By paying attention to those changes, the Stanford University scientists say, they might be able to warn ship operators in the area of the upcoming migration.

## Fair Warning

Blue whales summer in the northeast region of the Pacific Ocean but travel to the coast of Central America in Autumn, *PopSci* reports, where they breed and wait out the cold weather. According to [the team's research](<https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31331-2>), published Thursday in the journal *Current Biology*, the whales sing during the night, but switch to a daytime song right before their migration begins.

"There is a near real-time signal of what these animals are doing out in a habitat that’s historically been really difficult to observe," Stanford biologist and study coauthor William Oestreich told *PopSci*.

## Whale Strike

Getting advance warning would be great both for whales and the boats in the areas, as [collisions can be destructive](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gangs-of-ferocious-killer-whales-are-attacking-boats>) for vessels as well as fatal for the giant mammals.

"That could be one piece of the puzzle to more dynamically manage those habitats and shipping lanes in a way that allows shipping to continue," Oestreich told *PopSci*, "but also in a way that is safe for these whale populations."

**READ MORE:** [We can protect whales from ship strikes by translating their songs](<https://www.popsci.com/story/animals/blue-whale-song-migration/>) \[*Popular Science*\]

**More on whales:** *[Whales and Sharks Are the New Victims of Our Plastic Waste, Study Finds](<https://futurism.com/whales-sharks-new-victims-plastic-waste-study-finds>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)