“My church is outdoors mostly. What’s sacred to me is this planet we live on. It’s been here for more than 4 billion years. Life has been on it only for 3 billion years. Life as we know it, you know, for a very short time. It’s the only planet where life has been found. And that, to me, I think, is ultimately, you know, what I consider it sacred.”
Katy Payne

Katy Payne, an acoustical biologist, sets up the audio microphones in a remote area of east central Africa to listen to elephants. Her passion is named The Elephant Listening Project and you can visit here. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp/elephant/

Her earlier studies, before the elephants, included another large species, the Blue Whale. What do whales and elephants have in common you ask? I’ll explain in a few moments. For many years Katy listened to whales, to the same songs of the same family units. Year after year she would listen. One year she noticed that the songs all changed slightly. What she eventually realized was that the calls were the same except for a slight variation that was learned by all members. The songs changed, ever so slightly, thus signifying extraordinary learning capabilities and communication amongst re-organized family members as well as other members in other family units.

Appling the knowledge learned from studying whales; Dr Payne had a few questions about this other large species, the elephant. She found an area of the Congo perfect for her studies but the jungle was so dense that observing even large animals was nearly impossible. Katy’s answer was set up an array of sensitive microphones to capture the sounds and calls of this now elusive creature. These microphones also listen and hear the poacher’s gunshots and allow game rangers to study and pursue their illegal hunting patterns. Unfortunately, ivory is still a valued commodity worldwide and the illicit trade still flourishes. .

Dr. Katy Payne was the first to observe elephant’s communications with subsonic vocalizations. She felt the pulses while observing closely one day and correlated the low inaudible vibrations with those of the whale communications she had pioneered earlier in her carrier. This demonstrates the elephant’s vast vocabulary ability and to constantly keep within communication even at vast distances She also observed family groups going about their normal daily routine, roaming and meandering about in all different directions, when all of a sudden, they would just stop. The entire group would instantaneously freeze. Ears perking up and pointing in a unanimous direction, they not only stood still but also ceased every movement or flutter, sometimes for up to a full minute, just listening. Katy Payne explains that this proves the communications of the largest land mammals are concerned with what’s over the horizon, communications of vast distances and an awareness of what is beyond the line of sight.

It was a joy to hear about how the elephants behave when re-uniting with one another. The exuberance and excitedness that they displayed, even if only separated for an hour of so was noteworthy. It reminded me of how a loved pet might react to a short separation. Hats off to Dr. Katy Payne for a job well done and well appreciated. Please do your best to support her efforts. You can read more about Dr. Katy Payne findings in her new book “ Silent Thunder; In the Presence of Elephants” sold at Amazon
Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants