Echoes of the Deep

Dr Ellen Garland’s new research has revealed whale song has human language-like structure. Humpback whales also have cultural revolutions through their song. These cultural waves spread across ocean basins as entire populations of whales will adopt novel songs introduced from a neighbouring population. The only other species in the whole animal kingdom that has these large and rapid cultural changes are humans. Like trailblazers in human fashion, humpback whale song trends spread across the globe.

This groundbreaking research is not possible without the painstaking collection of fundamental data at field sites in the South Pacific. This crowdfunding seeks to fund the collection, analysis and understanding of humpback whale song. From observing the behaviour of the whales in the field through to the development of human-assisted AI tools to speed up analysis back in the lab, this funding will allow Ellen and her team to investigate the exciting but fundamental question of: why do whales sing?

Who Are We?

Ellen, originally from New Zealand, has been researching whale song for almost 20 years. Her broad research interests include animal culture, social learning, bioacoustics, and behavioural ecology. Ellen's main research focuses on cetaceans, and in particular the cultural transmission, vocal learning, and function of humpback whale song. Ellen is also interested in vocal sequence analysis techniques, and using similarity in vocal displays to define population structures for conservation management.

Where will the money go?

All funds raised will go directly to fund whale song research, providing the resources needed for our researchers to be out in the ocean collecting data and back home analysing the data.

Rewards

Individual donors who give £10,000 or more will have the opportunity to connect directly with Ellen to learn more about this fascinating research.

Individual donors who give £50,000 or more will have the unique and extraordinary opportunity to join Ellen and her team on the ocean, experiencing first hand data collection of whale song. 

(All details to be confirmed. Travel costs to be covered by donor. Visit will be for a day or two) 

Help US Succeed

You don't need to give money to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would like to support us. 

FinD Us here

Website: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/biology/people/ecg5 

Bluesky: @ellengarland.bsky.social  

Photo Credits: Operation Cetaces