On a mission to collect 'millions to billions' of high-quality contextualised vocalisations between sperm whales, scientists have started using AI, robotics, and autonomous drone technology.
It’s the process of data collection that Doctor Dolittle likely didn’t divulge when he set about talking to the animals, but it’s the mission that scientists behind Project CETI (the Cetacean Translation Initiative) haven’t shied away from in their bid to better understand how sperm whales communicate.
This is, of course, the gargantuan effort of collecting ‘millions to billions’ of high-quality, highly contextualised vocalisations between sperm whales, to help shape our understanding of the ways in which this particular species speaks to one another.
But the sheer amount of data needed is only one part of the equation. The first hurdle scientists face is finding the whales to begin with, then it’s knowing when and where they’re going to surface next. If you’ve never tried – attaching listening devices and collecting visual information on sperm whales within their natural habitat is understandably difficult.