Whale Song

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The song is constant. We record 24/7. The song never ceases. The whales create this soundscape, we feel, to give solace to the newborn in the hours of darkness. In the dark of night, in the deep ocean, only the stars and the song bring hope for the dawn.

The individual pulses when viewed with a spectrogram ascend into the 48kHz range. The human ear is only 'specified' to a maximum 24kHz frequency response. The technical specifications for the frequency response of both our stereo hydrophones and our digital recorder are to 96kHz maximum. Thus using the spectrogram software we can see but not hear the syncopation in the upper frequencies.

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 hear 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 its 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 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 recognise that the unique sounds made by Humpback Whales were in fact conscious, complex evolving songs.

Balaena universus hominis
Whale as one with Human

This film is an encounter with Sweetheart and her calf Heartthrob. An hour long encounter unique in the fact that it was the first time in our twenty years of research that a mother allowed a calf to interact directly with us in total trust.

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 recognise them in future encounters.

Sweetheart, the mother, is named after a heart shaped marking she has near her dorsal fin. She is with her new calf Heartthrob who is only a few months old. Calves remain with their mother for about a year. Sweetheart had a calf in 1998 named Heartsong and a calf in 1999 named Heartbeat. The two escorts are also whales that are very well known to us. Their names are Nebo and Demi.


SONGLINES: http://songlinesofthewhales.org

Audio CD: 5 Tracks, running time 60 minutes. Track 3 features Migaloo the White Whale recorded in 1998. © The Oceania Project - All Rights Reserved

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.

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 imperilled 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.

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Category:

Education

Tags:

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

[SarethZhukov314]

Beautiful animals! One of the most amazing creatures on Earth. There's something absolutely enchanting about the happy squeal of a dolphin and the gentle groans of a whale ^_^. I remember swimming with a dolphin, i'll never forget it!

[jaddajn1]

i started crying while listening to this

[pandafreakgirl]

i think its cute when it rolls on its back ^ ^

[HighPriestess10]

Thank you for your beautiful video xx

[bgrosostolato]

I'm hypnotized

[monkey11212000]

aw. it is super cool and sweet!!!

[nathmull1997]

orgasm to my ears 

[MidnightInWonderland]

It sounds so funny, yet so beautiful:O <3 Whales are so... :O <3

[merridm]

Unbelievably enchanting

[1isaacmusic]

You guys should listen to some slowed down bird-calls, some of them sound identical to whale chatter.