From California - Discovery of a Five Million Year old Whale

Iʻm in California this month catching up with family and my work. Here in Santa Cruz, an amateur archaeologist has discovered what is believed to be a five million year old fossilized whale. This video clip from KTVU TV shows a little footage from the "secret location."

Our friend, Pierre Lavagne, in his upcoming movie on whales, describes the whale song as a "million year" song. Maybe a lot longer than that, Pierre.

Itʻs interesting to think about a song that evolves and changes each year - that may have been sung for millions of years.

We are now hoping to raise the funds to keep our project alive into its tenth year of bringing the millions-of-years-old song into the human world through modern technology....in the hopes that our human awareness that we are all connected will deepen - and that we will collectively take action to keep these songs alive into the future.

Aloha, Dan

We brought the buoy in!

We went to Sea on Sunday and brought Hōkūmoanalani back to shore. Our crew, left to right is Philip Gordon, Hein Hazenberg (from Amsterdam), Terry, Captain Willy Bennet (with his boat behind our group), Eva Gueke, and Trisha Pualani Cabral. Big thanks for a successful mission!!! The buoy is in excellent working condition and we had a wonderful time into the ocean while we were out there, thanks to Captain Willy and the professional yet fun loving crew that assembled for the adventure.
















The cleaning was done at sea, and we always strive to leave every living creature safely in the ocean when we pull the buoy out. The photo above by Philip Gordon shows the buoy is in basically good shape for when our singing Koholā (humpback whales) return next fall. We are lucky in this project to be surrounded by mermaids and dolphins. The dolphins below were photographed by Whalesong Project supporter Pamela Kaʻimiloa Polland.

Teaser for the French Whale Movie - Pierre Lavagne, David Rothenberg, Whalesong Project - Directed by Dominique Lenglart

Back to Recorded Songs - and more David Rothenberg on Whalesong audio processing

Well, the live whale songs have receded into the background, and our buoy and related technology on the other side of the island need some attention. Iʻve gone back to recorded songs on our webcast. The webcast recorded songs have not been processed, as our live songs are not - except for a little bit of EQ to reduce the high frequency "noise" produced by the shrimp out there on the reef.

During his recent visit, David Rothenberg introduced us to a world of audio processing that he sometimes uses on his CD tracks with whale songs. Some of the technology is very interesting to us, because we can actually reduce the noise of the surface water motion and shrimp - and focus on the whales. We are saving money to buy the software and give it a try next season.

Anyway, I put up a short video clip here - of Davidʻs workshop for our project team. Thank you David!

There are still reports of whales out there, but sightings are becoming less frequent as they head north. Itʻs been a beautiful whale season. Thanks to all of you who have shown support in one way or another!

David Rothenberg on Whalesongs, Whale Intelligence and more

Our friend David Rothenberg, who is a Professor of Music and Philosophy at New Jersey Institute of Technology, was interviewed by Daniel Oritz, Director of the award winning movie "Humpback Codes," while visiting us recently. We "eavesdrop" (with permissions) on part of that interview.

David discusses, among other subjects, the role the "discovery" of the whale songs had in leading to a movement to protect the whales, about the brain features and intelligence of whales, and what it is like to play music with the whales.

David is author of Why Birds Sing and The Thousand Mile Song - Whale Music in a Sea of Sound.

There are companion CDs with each of his publications that I highly recommend if you are interested in the songs of the natural world and the interaction of humans in that realm. David is an inspiring musician.

Papa Kai ʻohana - Our Ocean Family

This photo was taken in Mexico where the "Gray Whales" regularly approach boatloads of people and enjoy human interaction. At one such place the government was convinced that it was better for the economy to have environmental tourism than to let a large corporation destroy the whaleʻs habitat with an industrialized salt production facility.

Why do the whales reach out to us, when it is the human species that hunted them to near extinction, and who continues to make life difficult for them? I find myself thinking it might be that we are a disfunctional family. My Hawaiian friend "Uncle" Les Kuloloio calls our large family "papa kai ʻohana." With my limited understanding of the Hawaiian language, I translate this to mean "the ocean mother earth family." When you think about it, many cultures refer to the earth as our Mother, and it doesnʻt take a lot of scientific observation to notice that "we" come from "her"..... and that we are alive because she nurtures us with the things that are essential for life....and that "she" is made up largely of ocean waters. The salinity of the blood in our veins is the same as the salinity of her ocean waters. "Uncle Les" goes on to say that the whales were viewed as "sacred" beings...in the realm of the Gods...the "directors of life," by his culture. The sacredness of life is something talked a lot about in most cultures. And our interdependedness is increasingly being recognized by the scientific community.

As I listen to a lone whale singing a beautiful haunting melody out there this early morning, I ponder these issues. Our Koholā are traveling to places North of here. While their numbers have increased....back from the brink of extinction...the journey is still dangerous because of the human side of our extended family. While we like to think of ourselves as smart and scientific, some members of our community blast them with sounds loud enough to make their brains bleed. And claim they are not being harmed, while not looking at their dead bodies to see if harm can be documented.

This puts us in the arena of national security and I again ask the question that I have asked Senators Reid and Inouye, and numerous other politicians that represent us: Do we really have national security without a healthy ocean and environment?

And how do we document the cost of our national security without collecting scientific data and making it public? Iʻm sorry, but this is a sore point for me because I have seen whales swim to shore, disoriented, during Navy sonar exercises.....as the Navy claims that they arenʻt harming whales here. With all due respect I ask at what cost our national security?

Is this necessary, or is it like the flight of Air Force One over Manhattan, something that someone thinks is a good idea without weighing the impact on people and the environment?
Of course you canʻt document the physical harm to the people of Manhattan. The media reports that thousands of terrified office workers evacuated buildings, but no one was physically harmed.

The whales cannot evacuate. The nature of sound in the ocean forces them to endure the incredibly loud sounds that sonar forces on them. Whatever the reason for doing it, I think we have a responsibility to know that we are doing it, and we should know what the results are. Letʻs be real. This is real life, not a game we are playing.

Yet the whales still sing their beautiful mysterious songs, and they still approach us and share affection for us. Perhaps there is hope for our extended family Papa Kai ʻOhana. But I believe we need to speak out, as the Mayor of New York City did, and express outrage when it is appropriate. President Obama was said to be outraged at the incident.

I commend President Obama on the job he is doing. I love the guy. He has a good heart. He obviously needs to reel in people and exert control in his position, and I in doing so I hope he will address the issues of the acoustic health of our oceans. In the meanwhile, I will keep talking to anyone who will listen.

With aloha,

-- Dan

The buoy is working again!

It is late in the season, but I am happy to report the system is all working again. There are a few whales singing tonight. Please enjoy the last songs of this season, as our Koholā head north for the feeding grounds around Alaska.

Earth Day at University of Hawai'i Mānoa

I always enjoy seeing childrenʻs faces when the listen to the whales. Some listen very deeply. Some dance. It doesnʻt seem to matter how young or old they are, for there to be a fascination and connection. We celebrated Earth Day with our neighbors on Oʻahu last week. It was a great crowd and we met a lot of new friends.
I was really impressed with the commitment that a lot of the Marine Biology Students on Campus have. There is a real passion for taking care of the ocean that left me feeling good.

Members of Victoria Holt-Takamineʻs Hālau Hula performed to a large crowd there on the Mānoa campus.

Back to Recorded Whale Songs

Something funny is happening with the buoy. Sometimes she is working and you can hear a few distant whales singing. Sometimes she is intermittent. We are taking her offline for the time being. The songs you are hearing are recorded.

Most of us involved in this project are involved with music in one way or another. We were invited to present at More Fishes Hawaiʻi Conference and to open the conference with some music and hula. We brought some friends, and have included a snapshot of the event in this post. Thank you to Sheldon and Kevin Brown, and Gordean Leilehua Lee Baily and her Halau Wehiwehi o Leilehua.

We have many beautiful memories from this whale season.

Aloha, Dan

Buoy is live again!

Many thanks to Willy (the whale) Bennet for successfully troubleshooting a problem with our broadcast system on the South Side of Maui.  Hereʻs a photo of Willy (with goggles) during adventures at the buoy with the French film team.  Pierre Lavange, the main subject of the film, is in the water (in silver).  We hear from the Director, Dominique, that it will be seen on National TV in France, and that they are looking for connections with U.S. broadcasters. 

The whales are in the distance, and we have turned up the gain on our system to take that into account.  You will be hearing shrimp, boats, paddlers, wave noise, and (if we are lucky) some end-of-season songs to culminate this season.  The whales I hear now are probably ten miles away.  Maybe later tonight weʻll hear something closer.  Thanks for listening!

Aloha, Dan

Earth Day greetings and Buoy Update

We really enjoyed Earth Day at Studio Maui yesterday afternoon and evening. We love to share our project with the community and meet the people who are listening and find inspiration from our project - and other people who are working on various projects to benefit the earth and the environment. Hereʻs a picture of Amber and Sam at our display area last night. They are expecting a baby, and we are all excited about that.

The buoy signal has been intermittent, and the whales are diminishing rapidly in numbers. We are weighing whether to mount a buoy repair mission or to call it a season.

We have an invitation to present at Earth Day at the University of Hawaiʻi campus on Oʻahu this Wednesday. We have also been informed that there is interest in beaming our live songs into deep space from Cape Canaveral again this year - a project of Sirius Institute in collaboration with Earth Day University of Hawaiʻi Hilo Campus.

Itʻs been a very busy season, and the costs of the project have vastly exceeded our income. Itʻs a challenging time for everyone right now, and we are not exempt. Even though we are an all-volunteer organization, and we enjoy the project tremendously, we may need to end the season so we can recuperate financially and be ready to go again next year.

Right now we are playing a recording, while we evaluate the situation. Thanks to all of you who have participated and helped with the project this year, and in past years. Stay tuned!

Happy Earth Day Season

Aloha, Dan

Iphone Application now available for Whalesong Project

I am very happy to report the development of a dediated I phone application to link to our hydrophone and our project - through a collaboration between The Whalesong Project and Gladworks. Thank you Gladworks!!! To buy this application for $4.99 go to the Itunes store, and search the Applications store for "the Whalesong project". Hook it up to your stereo system in your car and cruise to live whalesongs, or listen at night to help you sleep (warning: may induce whale dreaming).