Is Anyone Listening? A Marine Biologist’s 40-Year Conversation with Dolphins
In 1985, marine biologist Denise Herzing set out on a six-week research trip to the Bahamas to study wild dolphins. Four decades later, she’s still there—immersed in what has become a lifelong effort to understand how dolphins communicate. Herzing’s new book, Is Anyone Listening? (University of Chicago Press, 2024), distills this remarkable journey and argues that it’s time we meet animals not just as research subjects, but as potential conversational partners.
Herzing’s work with Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) through her nonprofit Wild Dolphin Project is among the longest continuous underwater studies of a single dolphin population in the world. She’s logged thousands of hours in the water and helped pioneer underwater keyboards and acoustic tools to investigate symbolic communication between humans and dolphins.
But not everyone is convinced the book qualifies as science. In a recent review for Nature, marine mammal expert Laela Sayigh praises Herzing’s “remarkable fieldwork” but warns that the book “lacks sufficient data and references,” leaving some claims unsubstantiated. “However, Herzing’s passion for nature and animals makes for a positive overarching message,” she writes.
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Despite its speculative tone, the book opens important ethical questions: If animals are capable of language-like behavior, how should we interact with them?
Communication Underground, Underwater, and in the Canopy
Herzing’s work joins a growing body of research showing that non-human communication systems may be far more complex—and more meaningful—than once believed. At Green Prophet, we’ve followed this theme through the treetops, across deserts, and even underground.
Take frogs, for instance: scientists have shown that some species, like the red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas), use seismic communication by shaking leaves beneath them to warn off predators or signal mates. These substrate-borne vibrations function like primitive Morse code, especially in low-visibility environments like rainforest understories.
And ants? Not to be outdone, recent soil science reveals how some tropical ant and termite species create micro-engineered soil structures, aiding water retention and plant growth. Their subterranean tunnel systems could inspire future architects and soil conservationists alike.
Even plants get in on the conversation. Some researchers suggest that root systems “communicate” chemically with fungi, triggering nutrient exchanges that resemble trading systems. Other researchers say they can pick up on the jabber. Whether we call it communication or co-evolution, it challenges long-held assumptions about intelligence.
While Is Anyone Listening? may not satisfy those looking for hard statistics, it’s a compelling read for anyone interested in the intersection of science, philosophy, and animal behavior. Herzing’s voice—at once personal, precise, and probing—asks us not just to decode dolphin sounds but to consider our role as co-inhabitants of a shared, noisy planet.
And with artificial intelligence now being deployed to analyze animal languages (see the CETI project on sperm whale communication), the field Herzing helped pioneer is more relevant than ever.
