The evolution of humans and whales proceeded to bequeath another distinguishing advantage; brain tissue sheathed in intricate convolutions of cerebral cortex for the creation of symbols useful in thought experiments and communications. For Homo sapiens on the land, this process has transpired for less than a million years and generated the self-proclaimed “extraordinary” three-pound computer brain that we know and love so well. For Megaptera in the sea, the evolutionary recipe has simmered for a span of thirty million years, spawning the massive cranium that encases a fourteen-pound brain endowed with copious quantities of gray matter. According to a slogan in the popular media, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” so one can only wonder what capabilities nature has bestowed upon the cetacean mind.
A cascading series of Darwinian trade-offs was triggered when the cetacean progenitors returned to the sea. One is particularly notable—a potentially lost opportunity to evolve hands and fingers in exchange for the long, thin pectoral fins. As a consequence of the opposable thumb, we humans have channeled our intellects into fashioning the artifacts of culture. We are therefore conditioned to associate the existence of a higher intellect with material achievement. For thousands of years we have lived amongst the other creatures of our planet without observing any obvious signs of civilizations other than our own. We acknowledge their consciousness but have not endeavored to study their minds or to measure their intellects with the same devotion that we apply to ourselves. Even if we were motivated to overcome our anthropocentric bias, it would be a formidable challenge to evaluate their intelligence unless we have the key to decode the symbols which express the thoughts that reveal their minds. But why not?—it need only take a single spark of insight to ignite a scientific revolution.
Perhaps if one were to imagine the possibilities while meditating upon the sounds of their mesmerizing songs: a massive floating intelligence, alien … abstract … attuned to the symphony of the sea … perhaps a consciousness the synthesis of music and symbol … no hands …no sense of environmental interplay … just pure intellect … awesome memory … and the dreams of the giant.