Integrating philology with acoustic signal analysis for decoding complex communication systems of marine animals

Abstract

The study investigates the merging of philology and acoustic signal processing to decipher the systems of interspecific communication used by marine mammals. Most marine animals, such as cetaceans and pinnipeds, use complex systems of vocal and non-vocal signals to communicate, interact socially, navigate, and integrate into their aquatic environments. Previous research in the field of acoustic communication analysis has been primarily structural and/or phonetic, with no attention to the disengagement of communication’s fundamental and applied cognitive functions. The study proposes to bring structure to and address the possible semantics of marine mammals' vocalizations by integrating philology into their analysis. The research is the first, and hopefully not the last, in the field of marine animal communication to attempt to provide a comprehensive solution for the fusion of bio-acoustics and linguistics, offering a working structure for the field of Marine Bio-Linguistics. The research has the potential to provide a thorough exploration of the intricacies and depths of the communications of marine mammals, and of the advanced intercommunications of marine mammals and humans, to provide valid and factual research for the conservation of the inter-relationships of the marine environment and of the communications of the marine mammals and humans.