The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two week
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two weeks ago at Cape Byron lighthouse. Marine Science students and volunteers,
under the guidance of researcher Daniel Burns, have sighted approximately 1,400 whales during the 14-day study period. This is a record number of whales to have observed since research at the Cape began in 1981, when less than 10 whales were sighted during the same study period.
http://www.scu.edu.au/research/whales/index.php/11
The population of this group of whales, the Antarctic Area V whales, was estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 in number before whaling commenced. When whaling ceased in Australia because of the lack of whales, there were an estimated 150 individuals remaining. We published a collaborative paper on the Antarctic Area V population in 2005. Using Photo-Identification 'mark re-capture' techniques, we estimated the recovering population to be approximately 7,000. The population could now be around 10,000.
This video is the third in the Songline Series. Here is the fourth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9VFsly_Wvk
The images are from two close extended encounters we had in 2001. The first was an early morning encounter with a mother and calf while we were still at anchor in Platypus Bay on the the west coast of Fraser Island. The second encounter was later that day with a breaching whale named 'Sky Rider'.
We name the whales mnemonically. We give them a name associated with a bodily marking or personality trait which helps us to remember and quickly recognize them in future encounters.
The mother and calf in this video approached us around 07:00 while we were at anchor in 3 meters of water. 'Sky Rider' had already been constantly breaching when we approached him. We stopped counting after sixty breaches. He was still breaching when we left him. There are many theories as to why whales breach. Personally, we feel that they breach for the pure joy of it. It is the only way they are able to experience gravity in the same way we do.
This is the end sequence of the 2001 'Songline'. The singer's name is 'Peru', a male. The Songline cycle is 9 minutes long. We recorded 2 hours of his repeated cycle. The Humpback Songlines can repeat in cycles from anywhere between 9 and 27 minutes. Individual Whales have been documented singing continuously for up to 23 hours. The Songline is repeated in exact syntax by all the singers. The syntax is passed on from year to year then added to, hence evolving. All the whales in the bay fall silent to listen to the singer.
The song is clearly audible through the hull of the research vessel. Depending on the proximity of the singer, the song is also audible while standing on the deck. The sound pressure level of the song is reduced significantly once it passes into the air. Whales speak to each other constantly. The cadence and syncopation of their normal conversations are much different from that of their songs. They often make sounds above water through their blow holes.
Hominis universus balaena - Human as one with Whale
The Oceania Project's
19th Whale Research Expedition
August 2008:
http://oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html
DVDs & Downloads:
http://oceania.org.au/iwhales/portal/home.php?cat=297
Help protect Humpback Whales:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au
Your community can adopt a Humpback Whale:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263881/k .7A44/Adopt_a_Whale.htm
To celebrate the annual return of the Humpback Whales, sixty Australian communities are participating in the Humpback Icon Project. Each of these communities has adopted a known individual Humpback Whale from The Oceania Project's Fluke Catalogue:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263879/k .590F/Humpback_Icon_Project.htm
Established in 1988 by Trish & Wally Franklin, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.
The first phase of a long-term study of the Australian Humpback Whales has been the major work of The Oceania Project.
This research continues to be made possible by individuals who participate in The Oceania Project's Internship Program. To date, more than 1,300 interns have joined the annual whale research expeditions.
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Added: 1 month ago
Views: 2,566
A very interesting mythological story about whales and dolphins concerns a tribe in west A
A very interesting mythological story about whales and dolphins concerns a tribe in west Africa called the Dogon of Mali. The Dogon, whose culture is alive and well today, at one time lived on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. They have many religious and creation beliefs which very much involve the whales and dolphins. They have perpetuated these beliefs in their religious ceremonies and in the form of sand drawings.
In their basket weavings they had 50.8 divisions, the reason for which is that they had quite specific knowledge of the Sirius star system which is a binary star system. They understood how Sirius B, the white dwarf, moved around the main bright star Sirius A. They used sand drawings to illustrate the orbital paths of the stars. The white dwarf Sirius B takes 50.8 years to complete an orbit of Sirius A. The Dogon knew this.
In the 1950's a British astronomer named Robert Temple was traveling on a plane across the Atlantic. Sitting beside him was Arthur C. Clark. Robert Temple began to tell Arthur C. Clark about the new knowledge of the Sirius star system provided by the advancing technology of radio astronomy.
Sirius B, the white dwarf, is not visible using a telescope whereas radio astronomy allows one to hear Sirius B.
Arthur C. Clark simply said to Temple, "You would be interested in the Dogon." Richard Temple began research on the Dogon and discovered how much knowledge the Dogon had of the Sirius Star System. He then went on to spend seven years of his life with the Dogon and wrote a book called 'The Sirius Mystery'.
When Temple went to meet the Dogon he asked, "How did you get this knowledge?" The Dogon's answer was very simple. They said, "These creatures came from the star Sirius landed in the ocean and were in the form of amphibians, whales and dolphins. They gave us the knowledge about the Sirius star system."
Then Temple asked, "What else did they tell you?" The Dogon replied, "They told us the story of life on Earth." And their story of life on Earth was as follows: There are three energies on the Planet Earth, Nomo, Onomo and Ogo the unfinished species. Nomo the small whales or dolphins would be the messengers, announcing the time of the sacrifice. Onomo, the great whales, the masters of the water, would be sacrificed for the purification and the re-organisation of the planet, allowing completion. That was their story.
Only Sirius A is visible to the human eye. It is in fact the brightest star in the sky. Sirius B is known to us only through listening carefully with a radio telescope. We listen for stars!
The galaxy, the universe & Canis Major is to imagine why! And as humans our imagination is infinite! So let us imagine further. Even as scientists we do have an infinite imagination. Do we not? We are limited only by our desire to imagine further!
We kindly thank Mr. R. Carlos Nakai for allowing us to add his Native American Cedar Flute to this film:
http://www.rcarlosnakai.com
"The earth and myself are of one mind"
~ Chief Joseph - Hinmaton-yalatkit
~ 'Thunder coming from the Ocean up over the Land'
The Oceania Project's
19th Whale Research Expedition
August 2008:
http://oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html
DVDs & Downloads:
http://oceania.org.au/iwhales/portal/home.php?cat=297
Help protect Humpback Whales:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au
Your community can adopt a Humpback Whale:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263881/k .7A44/Adopt_a_Whale.htm
To celebrate the annual return of the Humpback Whales, sixty Australian communities are participating in the Humpback Icon Project. Each of these communities has adopted a known individual Humpback Whale from The Oceania Project's Fluke Catalogue:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263879/k .590F/Humpback_Icon_Project.htm
Established in 1988 by Trish & Wally Franklin, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.
The first phase of a long-term study of the Australian Humpback Whales has been the major work of The Oceania Project.
This research continues to be made possible by individuals who participate in The Oceania Project's Internship Program. To date, more than 1,300 interns have joined the annual whale research expeditions.
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Added: 3 weeks ago
Views: 4,110
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two week
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two weeks ago at Cape Byron lighthouse. Marine Science students & volunteers,
under the guidance of researcher Daniel Burns, have sighted approximately 1,400 whales during the 14 day study period. This is a record number of whales observed since research at the Cape began in 1981, when less than 10 whales were sighted in the same study period.
http://www.scu.edu.au/research/whales/index.php/11
The population of this group of whales, the Antarctic Area V whales, was estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 before whaling commenced. When whaling ceased in Australia because of the lack of whales, there were an estimated 150 individuals remaining. We published a collaborative paper on the Antarctic Area V population in 2005. Using Photo-Identification 'mark re-capture' techniques we estimated the recovering population to be approximately 7,000. The population could now be around 10,000.
So we can feel a sense of pride as humans, that we have allowed the East Coast Australian Humpback Whale population to begin its recovery. People from all nations visit the Cape at this time of year to greet the whales as they pass. They breach occasionally, very probably to get a better view of the lighthouse. Cape Byron is a very important landmark for the whales on their migration north, being the most easterly point on the continent.
This is Migaloo the White Whale's Songline from 1998, the fourth in the Songline Series, here is the first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF9StwXcjQE
The song is clearly audible through the hull of the research vessel. Depending on the proximity of the singer, the song is also audible standing on the deck. The sound pressure level of their song is reduced significantly once it passes into the air. Whales speak to each other constantly. The cadence and syncopation of their normal conversations are much different from that of their songs. They often make sounds above water through their blow holes.
Because water is denser than air it is a much better conduit for sound. If a singer is close you can here him in much the same way standing on the deck as our recordings sound on YouTube. Of course the moment you enter the water, which we don't because it is illegal and unnecessary, the sound is felt at it's full sound pressure level, the equivalent of a jack hammer or loud rock concert.
We are working on several papers related to whale 'language'. The term 'language' in relation to Humpback Whales is not yet accepted by the scientific community so we are careful about using it. Although we firmly believe that whales of all species have highly evolved languages.
Three researchers in Hawaii, two computer engineers and a marine biologist, have created a computer application to asses the entropy of whale sounds (loss of energy from a system in this case sound frequency) and have compared them to a range of human languages. They have concluded that Humpback sounds are equivalent to human languages. They used the recordings of Dr. Roger and Katy Payne, made in the 1970s, who were the first scientists to recognize that the unique sounds made by Humpback Whales were in fact conscious, complex evolving songs.
Hominis universus oceanus - Human as one with the Ocean
The Oceania Project's
19th Whale Research Expedition
August 2008:
http://oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html
DVDs & Downloads:
http://oceania.org.au/iwhales/portal/home.php?cat=297
Help protect Humpback Whales:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au
Your community can adopt a Humpback Whale:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263881/k .7A44/Adopt_a_Whale.htm
To celebrate the annual return of the Humpback Whales, sixty Australian communities are participating in the Humpback Icon Project. Each of these communities has adopted a known individual Humpback Whale from The Oceania Project's Fluke Catalogue:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263879/k .590F/Humpback_Icon_Project.htm
Established in 1988 by Trish & Wally Franklin, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.
The first phase of a long-term study of the Australian Humpback Whales has been the major work of The Oceania Project.
This research continues to be made possible by individuals who participate in The Oceania Project's Internship Program. To date, more than 1,300 interns have joined the annual whale research expeditions.
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Added: 1 month ago
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❛Nanda & Bala❜ are two young whales we encountered
during the second week of our 2007 res
❛Nanda & Bala❜ are two young whales we encountered
during the second week of our 2007 research expeditions.
We granted The National Geographic Society's request to
shoot a documentary aboard our research vessel. Annie,
the host, and her cameraman can be seen in the foreground.
The Oceania Project's
19th Whale Research Expedition
August 2008:
http://oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html
DVDs & Downloads:
http://oceania.org.au/iwhales/portal/home.php?cat=297
Help protect Humpback Whales:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au
Your community can adopt a Humpback Whale:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263881/k .7A44/Adopt_a_Whale.htm
To celebrate the annual return of the Humpback Whales, sixty Australian communities are participating in the Humpback Icon Project. Each of these communities has adopted a known individual Humpback Whale from The Oceania Project's Fluke Catalogue:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263879/k .590F/Humpback_Icon_Project.htm
Established in 1988 by Trish & Wally Franklin, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.
The first phase of a long-term study of the Australian Humpback Whales has been the major work of The Oceania Project.
This research continues to be made possible by individuals who participate in The Oceania Project's Internship Program. To date, more than 1,300 interns have joined the annual whale research expeditions.
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Added: 1 month ago
Views: 9,161
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two week
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two weeks ago at Cape Byron lighthouse. Marine Science students & volunteers,
under the guidance of researcher Daniel Burns, have sighted approximately 1,400 whales during the 14 day study period. This is a record number of whales observed since research at the Cape began in 1981, when less than 10 whales were sighted in the same study period.
http://www.scu.edu.au/research/whales/index.php/11
The population of this group of whales, the Antarctic Area V whales, was estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 before whaling commenced. When whaling ceased in Australia because of the lack of whales, there were an estimated 150 individuals remaining. We published a collaborative paper on the Antarctic Area V population in 2005. Using Photo-Identification 'mark re-capture' techniques we estimated the recovering population to be approximately 7,000. The population could now be around 10,000.
So we can feel a sense of pride as humans, that we have allowed the East Coast Australian Humpback Whale population to begin its recovery. People from all nations visit the Cape at this time of year to greet the whales as they pass. They breach occasionally, very probably to get a better view of the lighthouse. Cape Byron is a very important landmark for the whales on their migration north, being the most easterly point on the continent.
We present to you the voice of Migaloo, the White Whale. We thought it appropriate that Migaloo be granted the opportunity to speak before the meeting of the International Whaling Commission. As speakers are allowed only a few minutes to present their case, we extracted only the most poignant statements from our 1998 recording of Migaloo's two hour discourse. 'Migaloo' means 'White Fella'. He was named by Australian Aboriginal Elders.
The images are highlights from close extended pod encounters between 1998 and 2007. For images of Migaloo, please view the encounter as narrated by our intern Dave Williams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vEj9gYZChw
''One of the great thrills of my life was hearing and feeling Migaloo's voice pass through my body as he swam past The Oceania Project's research vessel on October 2, 1998.''
~Dave Williams
The sound pressure level of the whale's song is equivalent to that of a jet engine. It is speculated that the whale's song if unimpeded by land-masses could circle the globe and return to its source. Divers in close range of a singer have told us that their whole bodies vibrate with the frequencies.
The Oceania Project's
19th Whale Research Expedition
August 2008:
http://oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html
DVDs & Downloads:
http://oceania.org.au/iwhales/portal/home.php?cat=297
Your community can adopt a Humpback Whale:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263881/k .7A44/Adopt_a_Whale.htm
To celebrate the annual return of the Humpback Whales, sixty Australian communities are participating in the Humpback Icon Project. Each of these communities has adopted a known individual Humpback Whale from The Oceania Project's Fluke Catalogue:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263883/k .BDDF/Project_Background.htm
Established in 1988 by Trish & Wally Franklin, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.
The first phase of a long-term study of the Australian Humpback Whales has been the major work of The Oceania Project.
This research continues to be made possible by individuals who participate in The Oceania Project's Internship Program. To date, more than 1,300 interns have joined the annual whale research expeditions.
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Added: 1 month ago
Views: 11,435
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two week
The Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre commenced land based research two weeks ago at Cape Byron lighthouse. Marine Science students & volunteers,
under the guidance of researcher Daniel Burns, have sighted approximately 1,400 whales during the 14 day study period. This is a record number of whales observed since research at the Cape began in 1981, when less than 10 whales were sighted in the same study period.
http://www.scu.edu.au/research/whales/index.php/11
The population of this group of whales, the Antarctic Area V whales, was estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 before whaling commenced. When whaling ceased in Australia because of the lack of whales, there were an estimated 150 individuals remaining. We published a collaborative paper on the Antarctic Area V population in 2005. Using Photo-Identification 'mark re-capture' techniques we estimated the recovering population to be approximately 7,000. The population could now be around 10,000.
So we can feel a sense of pride as humans, that we have allowed the East Coast Australian Humpback Whale population to begin its recovery. People from all nations visit the Cape at this time of year to greet the whales as they pass. They breach occasionally, very probably to get a better view of the lighthouse. Cape Byron is a very important landmark for the whales on their migration north, being the most easterly point on the continent.
This is the first in the Songline Series, here is the second:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WabT1L-nN-E
This Songline was recorded in 2001. The singer's name is 'Peru'. The Songline cycle is 9 minutes and we recorded 2 hours of the repeating cycle. The Humpback Songlines repeat in cycles from anywhere between 9 and 27 minutes. Individual Whales have been documented as singing continuously for up to 23 hours. The Songline is repeated in exact syntax by all the singers. The syntax is passed on from year to year then added to and hence evolves. All the whales in the bay fall silent to listen to the singer.
We appreciate that most people can not spare even 1 minute let alone 9. So we have created 3 minute multitrack mixes containing the entire Songline layered in 3 levels. We have brought each of the three sections of the Songline to the front of the mix in each of the films. The Songline commences in the high frequencies and descends to the low frequencies as the cycle progresses.
Megaptera novaeangliae is the Latin name for Humpback Whale. It means 'The Great Winged Whale of New England'. New England is where the whalers first began hunting Humpback Whales over 200 years ago.
The Oceania Project's
19th Whale Research Expedition
August 2008:
http://oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html
DVDs & Downloads:
http://oceania.org.au/iwhales/portal/home.php?cat=297
Help protect Humpback Whales:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au
Your community can adopt a Humpback Whale:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263881/k .7A44/Adopt_a_Whale.htm
To celebrate the annual return of the Humpback Whales, sixty Australian communities are participating in the Humpback Icon Project. Each of these communities has adopted a known individual Humpback Whale from The Oceania Project's Fluke Catalogue:
http://www.stopwhaling.com.au/site/c.ouI0KeMXIvF/b.3263879/k .590F/Humpback_Icon_Project.htm
Established in 1988 by Trish & Wally Franklin, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.
The first phase of a long-term study of the Australian Humpback Whales has been the major work of The Oceania Project.
This research continues to be made possible by individuals who participate in The Oceania Project's Internship Program. To date, more than 1,300 interns have joined the annual whale research expeditions.
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Added: 1 month ago
Views: 12,158
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