Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative)

Big news—Listen to the Whales won the People’s Voice The Webby Awards for Video & Film, in the category Science & Education! 🌟 Thank you for voting for us! We are honored and look forward to continuing to Listen to the Whales together💙🐳 The Listen to the Whales campaign video was created with the National Geographic Society’s Impact Story Lab and if you haven’t already, take the plunge and discover a hidden world at projectceti.org/listen Video: National Geographic Society’s Impact Story Lab, Change Content, Group Thrpy

Meet Dianka George, 2025/2026 CETI Dominica Marine Conservation Fellow! Since childhood, Dianka has always been drawn to the ocean, and her experiences throughout the Fellowship have deepened her commitment to understanding and protecting it. One memorable experience for her was the opportunity to discover firsthand the basics of sailing with the CETI Marine Operations Team aboard the CETI 1 research vessel, where she discovered the practical navigational skills and cohesive teamwork that sailing is built on. Some lasting lessons she learned at sea: - To steer straight, find a fixed point. The mountains of Dominica were my guide. - The wind, boat, and sailor must work together to move across the water. We had to adjust the sails with the winch to meet the wind. - You can read the wind using your ears. Using your body as a compass, you can feel the direction and strength of the wind. - Dolphins love to sail too. Catching a bow-ride is a frequent behavior for dolphins, thought to be pure play for them, it was a magical moment for us. Learn more about the CETI Fellowship here: https://lnkd.in/eqy_NYKv Photos: Dianka George

“[The glider] is another way of having a delicate, not passive object recording, and listening, and peering into their world.” - CETI CEO and Founder David Gruber Learn more in The Robot Report: https://lnkd.in/dpfftrRT Featuring the CETI Paper: “Backseat driver architecture to passively follow sperm whales by their voices with an autonomous underwater glider” authored by: CETI Underwater Acoustics Lead Roee Diamant, Yeshayahu Pewzner, CETI Underwater Acoustics Team Member Guy Gubnitsky, CETI CEO and Founder David Gruber, CETI Marine Operations Lead Dan Tchernov, Laurent B. and Jeremy Sitbon.

“With the new glider, we significantly extend ‘backseat driver’ capabilities by enabling complete mission changes (such as different dive plans), this allows fully autonomous control by the glider for tracking whales—a first for underwater gliders, like the Waymo of the underwater world.” -CETI Underwater Acoustics Lead Roee Diamant Read more about CETI’s autonomous underwater glider system in Popular Science here: https://lnkd.in/dHFmjNph Featuring the CETI Paper: “Backseat driver architecture to passively follow sperm whales by their voices with an autonomous underwater glider” authored by: CETI Underwater Acoustics Lead Roee Diamant, Yeshayahu Pewzner, CETI Underwater Acoustics Team Member Guy Gubnitsky, CETI CEO and Founder David Gruber, CETI Marine Operations Lead Dan Tchernov, Laurent B. and Jeremy Sitbon.

A major technological breakthrough: CETI’s autonomous underwater glider system is able to quietly follow sperm whales by listening to their voices for months at a time, opening an entirely new dimension for studying whales in their natural environment. The new glider system will enable researchers to monitor whales on their journeys across wider ocean areas and offers the possibility to study individual whales at a distance through important life stages —such as observing a calf during its early development as it learns the vocal dialect, or “coda,” of its family group. Learn more in the paper published in Nature Portfolio’s Scientific Reports “Backseat driver architecture to passively follow sperm whales by their voices with an autonomous underwater glider” here: https://lnkd.in/dBkyUxT8 Authored by: CETI’s Underwater Acoustics Lead Roee Diamant from Underwater acoustic and navigation laboratory (ANL) - University of Haifa, Yeshayahu Pewzner from University of Haifa, CETI Underwater Acoustics Team Member Guy Gubnitsky from Underwater acoustic and navigation laboratory (ANL) - University of Haifa, CETI CEO and Founder David Gruber from Baruch College, CETI Marine Operations Lead Dan Tchernov from The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Laurent B. and Jeremy Sitbon from ALSEAMAR. Animation: Adrien Gentils

We’re one step closer to understanding the sperm whale ‘alphabet’. Read the piece in National Geographic by Richard Kemeny: https://lnkd.in/dZhGudsW Featuring the CETI paper “The phonology of sperm whale coda vowels”, authored by: CETI Linguistics Lead Gasper Begus, CETI Linguistics Team Member Maksymilian Dąbkowski, CETI Linguistics Team Member Ronald Sprouse, CETI Founder and Lead David Gruber and CETI Biology Lead Shane Gero.

Thank you The Guardian and Oliver Milman for this piece featuring our latest paper, “The phonology of sperm whale coda vowels.” Read here: https://lnkd.in/d2xP4rmr Authored by: CETI Linguistics Lead Gasper Begus from University of California, Berkeley, CETI Linguistics Team Member Maksymilian Dąbkowski from The University of Hong Kong, CETI Linguistics Team Member Ronald Sprouse from University of California, Berkeley, CETI Founder and Lead David Gruber from Baruch College and CETI Biology Lead/Scientist in Residence at Carleton University Shane Gero.

New research reveals sperm whale vocalizations are one of the most phonologically complex communication systems in the animal kingdom, representing the closest parallel to human phonology of any analyzed animal communication system. CETI scientists led by CETI Linguistics Lead Gašper Beguš have revealed that not only do sperm whale vocalizations sound like human vowels, they also behave like them, revealing pattern-like structures across several linguistic dimensions. Discover more in the paper here: https://lnkd.in/dT9bDMtf Authored by: CETI Linguistics Lead Gasper Begus from University of California, Berkeley, CETI Linguistics Team Member Maksymilian Dąbkowski from The University of Hong Kong, CETI Linguistics Team Member Ronald Sprouse from University of California, Berkeley, CETI Founder and Lead David Gruber from Baruch College and CETI Biology Lead/Scientist in Residence at Carleton University Shane Gero. Animation: Meghan Fenske

Exciting News—Listen to the Whales is a The Webby Awards Nominee!⭐️🐋 The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the internet—from websites, to apps to podcasts and more. The Listen to the Whales campaign, created with the National Geographic Society’s Impact Story Lab, is nominated for best video & film, in the Science & Education category. Cast your votes now through Thursday, April 16th: https://lnkd.in/eKHq928k Huge thanks to The Webby Awards for this honor, and congratulations to all the nominees!

Did you know that in 1977, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent two identical Golden Records to interstellar space as a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials? The record includes images, sounds, and greetings from Earth, including the songs of humpback whales that were recorded by the late Dr. Roger Payne, a Principal Advisor to Project CETI. 🔊These songs also helped spark the “Save the Whales” movement, one of the most successful conservation efforts in history. As Artemis II makes its way back to Earth today, we are pondering what sounds should be added to the soundtrack of Earth? Aside from sperm whale clicks, of course. Photo: NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Audio: Golden Record, Track 3 “United Nations Greetings/Whale Songs”: Dr. Roger Payne’s “Songs of the Humpback Whale.”