The National Geographic Society

http://songlinesofthewhales.org

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.

SONGLINES documents the evolution of the intricate and beautiful East Australian Humpback song. An hour of pristine digital recordings selected from five different years between 1992 and 2008 which draw the listener into a mysterious and majestic world.

Established in 1988, The Oceania Project is an independent, non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.

Humpback whale songs are transferred from year to year and evolve in a similar fashion to the verbally transmitted tribal lore of Aboriginal cultures from where the term songlines is derived.

The East Australian Humpback Whales travel in an unending cycle of migration between their birthplace in the inter-reef lagoon of the Great Barrier Reef and their Antarctic feeding areas.

Their world is comprised of vast stretches of ocean where songs emitted by the Humpback Whales can be heard over great distances. Each year the whales sing a new song. Haunting melodies of radiant joy which fill the ocean along the East Coast of Australia.

When ecosystems across the planet are collapsing and species are becoming extinct at an accelerating rate, the East Australian Humpback Whales are making a remarkable recovery. They have become Australia's national treasure and a symbol of hope for our imperiled environment.

We as the new generation of caretakers of the planet Earth have learnt from the mistakes of our elders and are helping nurture the Rebirth of a Species.

Audio CD: 5 Tracks, running time 60 minutes. Track 3 features Migaloo the White Whale recorded in 1998.

© The Oceania Project - All Rights Reserved

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://bit.ly/HumpbackIconProject

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• humpback
• whale
• dolphin
• cetacea
• research
• oceania
• iwhales
• migaloo

[sidneywofford]

It is just so amazing how the whale's come up to them like that!!! :)

[Mortensenbaby]

woow thats so amazing !

[bravestory2007]

Beautiful creatures!!

[GERL777]

удивительная красота!!!

[blazingrosie]

whats with dat pose ?maybe she realized that shez on TV !!wonderful whale song

[LoveJacinta]

Wow. so amazing, so beautiful. i love there songs<3

[thetimetraveler6500]

The sound they make is so mysterious. I wonder how much have been learned about these song they sing.

[airplanetalk]

Fabulous! Luv these whales, these gentle giants have a right to live in unpolluted seas, free from hunters..

[TURKEYLOVERS2009]

amazing

[SiouxSyndicate]

ONelove

[whalelover1231]

that is just breathtaking!!!!