Whale Song Explained

Very good article on the musicality of humpback’s cries and much more.

We still have much to learn from the fauna and flora around us.

Nature is full of surprises and, at any time, can remember how it dominates us.

While man seek by all means to elevate in the air, he sometimes forget the treasures that lie deep in the oceans.

Our body is composed of water, it needs it to live. Our planet is made of water and also needs it to continue to give life. The same life which appeared in water at the beginning.

The water of the seas and oceans contains a multitude of life forms among which the whale is certainly one of its most impressive.

The following article explains how whales communicate via sound. How they synchronize.

Many beautiful and comprehensive illustrations.

A historic and serious information, hats off for this high-quality article.

The largest single pressing of any album of recorded music was not made by Michael Jackson or Mariah Carey, but by an animal the size of a city bus.

Ten million copies of Songs of the Humpback Whale were inserted into the January 1979 issue of National Geographic, distributed around the world in 25 languages. The humpback’s cries are credited with inspiring the global movement of conservation measures to protect whales.

But what is often overlooked is the true musicality of the sounds. The shrill wails, deep growls, rhythmic scratches, and spectral moans combine into repeating patterns so structured that they fit any conventional definition of music.

There are eleven populations of humpbacks around the world, each covering their own ocean-sized territory. These populations each boast not only their own dialect of song, but also their own anthem of sorts — each whale singing the same sequence of the same sounds. But week-to-week, month-to-month, and year-to-year this song evolves, as the whales collectively create new phrases and patterns, totally in sync.

The uniqueness and creativity behind this animal’s music is hard to appreciate by listening to the sounds alone (let alone reading about it with words). Instead, we must turn to graphic representations of sound to visually emphasize the patterns — and bring them to life.

More informations :

Medium