Marine Science Center Lecture - Humpback Whales Generate “Thrums”

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) is pleased to welcome whale biologist Dr. Fred Sharpe to its “Future of Oceans” lecture series on Sunday, November 16, 3 p.m., at the Wheeler Theaterin Fort Worden Historical State Park.

Humpback whales produce varied aerial sounds including trumpets, shrikes, hoots and percussions. Of special interests are their low frequency, far-traveled, elephant-like, aerial rumbles. Although “thrums” are new to science, they are familiar to those in the Salish Sea. The lecture will feature sounds, slides and the scientific inquiry conducted at Five Finger Lighthouse into these remarkable aerial signals.

Fred Sharpe has been studying the foraging ecology of humpback whales in SE Alaska since 1987. He received his Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University and is currently an affiliate with the SETI Institute, a Co-Investigator with the Whale-SETI Study Team and a Principal Investigator with the Aerial Signals Project. Using the humpback whale as an alien analog, Fred and his colleagues employ an astrobiological framework including SETI (Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence) which involves humpback call classification and analysis using information theory; METI (Messaging) which involves dynamic playbacks to establish whale-human acoustic interaction and RETI, responding to volitional overtures toward humans “candidate signals -bubble rings and other effervescent structures. These studies illuminate the biotic variables of the Drake Equation, and suggest that the lack of cosmic signal detection may partially be perceptual in nature.

Fred’s interest in conservation biology has led him to follow the whales south to their Hawaiian wintering to document their historical ecology and legacy impacts from commercial whaling. He has been awarded the Fairfield Award for Innovative Marine Mammal Research and the Society for Marine Mammology’s Award for Excellence in Scientific Communication. Fred volunteers with NOAA as a large whale entanglement responder. He is also a co-author of Voyaging with the Whales which celebrates Alaska’s humpback whale bubble netting culture.

All events are free. Donations are welcomed and appreciated.

Since its inception in 2014, the PTMSC Future of Oceans lecture series has explored the frontiers of ocean research and emerging technologies while confronting the human capacity to understand and sustain healthy oceans. Each year attendees are challenged and informed with thought-provoking presentations. The series is made possible by the generous support of the Darrow family.

For more information about the lecture series, visit https://ptmsc.org/lectures/