WE ARE NOT ALONE…
« Intelligent life on our planet abounds, especially in the ocean. Many species of dolphins and whales have brains that are larger than ours, and in many ways more evolved and complex. These animals may also share our capacity to communicate with one another in sophisticated ways that we are just on the cusp of understanding. DAREWIN’s mission is to better understand dolphin and whale click communication and perhaps, one day, make contact with these extraordinary animals. »
NEWS
Beautiful article of Hugh Francis Anderson on our last expedition in Arctic with Barba and Andreas B. Heide. Was a unique opportunity to meet a remote pod of sperm whale, far away from any human activity, and record their vocalises. As usual, they are always curious when they meet free diving humans for the first time.
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/adventure/2021/05/aboard-a-boat-searching-for-sperm-whales-deep-in-the-arctic-winter
Darewin heads to Antarctica to study Orcas whistle id sounds. Rough conditions but we were lucky to encounter several pods of orcas and even observe a rare behaviour of predation on a humpback whale.
October 2020
Following our work with Hvaldimir vocalises, the Norwegian D2 magazine publish a complete story and raise attention to the lonely beluga situation. Joar Hesten aims to find Hvaldimir a family, bringing him back to his home. We hope his vocalise could help to find his pod, as beluga have dialects.
https://www.dn.no/d2/barekraft/dyrevelferd/nordland/nord-norge/en-kjarlighetshistorie/7-1-ik08vm8kf
Reunion island is a great place to study dolphins and whales, we had here the opportunity to test the sound gun with bottlenose dolphins and sperm whales, and got great results. A sperm whales mother even allowed us to baby sit during four complete days !
Darewin project is featured in Oceanographic magazine
https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/product/issue-ten-interpreting-whalesong
Searching for Orcas in North of Norway we also had the chance to encounter Hvaldimir, a solitary beluga traveling in the fjords since April 2019. This playful and friendly whale is supposed to have been in captivity and now craves human interaction, but still no one knows if he has been wild formerly ? Belugas use acoustic signature and dialects so this was the perfect opportunity to use our last prototype the "Whale Talker". Hvaldimir was interacting acoustically with us and after a first analyse of data we can confirm he uses some whistles and clicks while coming to us, as many other sounds. We think a database of it's vocalises could be compared to other areas and maybe identify it's origin or even find a pod that share it's culture.
Pics credits - Chris Vaughan Jones - Matthew During
Yale University podcast talks about Darewin research and its perspective on animal consciousness.
http://www.whenwetalkaboutanimals.org/2019/05/27/ep-17-fabrice-schnoller-on-free-diving-with-sperm-whales/
4 days of survey in Indian Ocean with Sperm Whales, not had the chance to get a socialising pod but very inquisitive individuals, with some atypic behaviours.
DAREWIN Project achieve a 3 weeks survey in Reunion island. This year was incredible with many humpback whales and a lot of acoustic behaviours. We had the chance to monitor acoustic signatures between whales, mother and calves, whales and dolphins, and even with us !
Venez découvrir le projet Darewin à l'Institut Océanographique de Paris. Au programme nos plus belles observations 2017 et les premières analyses qui ont pu être réalisées.
DAREWIN Project is in Skervoy Norway, studying Orca's acoustic signature with 360° cams. We had the chance to meet a complete family pod with a very inquisitive mother.
ARTE TV unveil the "Dolphin Man VR" with a focus on DAREWIN project. Enjoy a dive in virtual reality and join us on our laste expeditions in Dominica, Bahamas, Mauritius.
https://sites.arte.tv/360/fr/dolphin-man-vr-360
Umpback whales are back in Reunion island, with a lot of mother and calves, we did a complete recording of this year song lyric, and it seems very monotonous compare to the previous years.
DAREWIN Project is now offically partnered with Great Whale Conservancy to receive . tax-free donations in the United States. DAREWIN Project and Great Whale Conservancy will be collaborating on numerous projects in the coming years to help understand and protect the ocean’s great whales. Learn more about the amazing work of Great Whale.
DAREWIN Project was invited to the United Nations to present our work with ten other international organizations selected from more than 800 international submissions at the UN Solutions Summit We are now working with UN administrators to further our research and media outreach quickly in the coming year. Watch DAREWIN members interview each other on UN TV: http://webtv.un.org/media/watch/communicating-with-whales-sdg-media-zone/5138495863001
Fabrice Schnoller, founder of DAREWIN Project presented his perspectives on cetacean communication research at TEDX KL , in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In partnership with Annapruna Pictures, WithIn, and the New York Times, DAREWIN Project received a MacArthur Foundation Grant in 2015 to produce a short 360 Virtual Reality short film based on their work researching cetacean click communication. The VR experience, “The Click Effect,” debuted at Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2016 and was released worldwide through the New York Times. View the VR experience for free via Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR through the New York Times Virtual Reality app or through WithIn app (best quality).