A Whale of a Song

We love Star Trek and we love whales...so when I saw a story about whales communicating through song, it caught my eye.

One of my favorite Star Trek movies was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It is all about an alien probe coming toward earth due to missing communications from Humpback Whales...they had become extinct. Through Captain Kirk's fearless leadership, the crew manages to use time travel, ingenuity and save the Earth from itself, once again. If you haven't seen STIV, I recommend it. It's the original Enterprise crew at their best...witty, smart and fun!

This study shows that whale songs have hierarchical units much like human language. We have paragraphs made up of sentences made up of words. They have songs made up of themes made up of themes made up of units.

So since those of us who follow Star Trek know how it has changed the world and how the future has become the present, we should take head and make sure those humpback whales are protected!

Live Long and Prosper!