Scientists say they have had a "conversation" a whale. They also say the chat could help them to one day talk to aliens. The scientists are the University of California, the Alaska Whale Foundation, and SETI (Search Extra-terrestrial Intelligence). The three organizations teamed and spoke to a humpback whale named Twain. They spoke to her "humpback language" for 20 minutes. Their conversation took place the scientists sent a "contact call" the ocean the coast Alaska. Twain heard the call and responded. She swam to the research boat and chatted. SETI said it was the first ever communication humans and humpback whales.
The scientists say their conversation Twain was not a deep one. Professor Brenda McCowan said it was more a series greetings. Whales use contact calls to let other whales know where they are. The scientists made the same call 36 times a 20-minute period. Each time, Twain responded calling back. She even matched the intervals each call the researchers made. Professor McCowan told the Business Insider website that her research could make it easier to talk to aliens. She said: "There are diverse intelligences this planet. studying them, we can better understand what an alien intelligence might be because they are not going to be exactly ours."