Update on Buoy and on Benefit Concert Feb 5 2010

We are very happy to announce that Whalesong Project Board Member George Kahumoku Jr. just won his 4th Grammy Award in the Hawaiian Music category! George emailed me from Los Angeles from his iPhone with the great news last night. We are in the middle of creating an event for this Friday evening with George at Makawao Union Church on Baldwin Avenue near Rainbow Park, 7 pm through 11 PM. First two hours will feature George and other Hawaiian musicians, with hula, and with a little talk-story about the Oceans and Whales....and really anything George wants to talk about. Heʻs a true Hawaiian Renaisance Man, and it is always a great pleasure to hear him play and hear what he has to say. The second part of the evening will explore the musical and mystical realms of the Whale and Ocean world, and human interaction, with Sam David, WhaleTrance, and Eva Gueke, WhaleDance. My band, Keaolani, will open the show. There will be surprise guests and we expect it to be a very enjoyable evening. The acoustics and atmosphere are very good at this venue. Suggested donation $20, Seniors $10, Keiki free.

Money raised will go to getting our buoy, Hōkūmoanalani, back in the ocean for the season. We are getting a later start than we would like to be getting, but itʻs been a challenging couple of seasons in many ways. Weʻve lost some key people to relocation and the economy, and illness. But we are still standing, and hope to become a stronger organization as the challenges facing the worldʻs oceans increase. Your donations through the Paypal button, by mail, or by attendance at our fundraiser will help with that. We remain an all-volunteer organization. There are no salaries, and no compensation paid, to officers, board members, or our team of dedicated volunteers. Your contributions pay for hardware, software, webcasting and webhosting fees, costs associated with participating in the many events we show up at to promote Ocean health and awareness. Stay tuned for details.

Making Progress towards the Sea

The whales are here and singing. The buoy is getting closer to being complete every day. I think it will be at least three more days to complete all tests and get a boat, but it could take longer, depending on how testing goes.

Sam David painted the buoy and has added some artistic touches that are beautiful.

Buoy Progress Report

Thanks to all for your patience, as we complete the final stages of the buoy renovation.

We just finished reassembling the power and floatation modules this evening.

We found out today that we need to re-engineer our base station on land, where the receiver and web interface are located, due to physical changes at the site. There are challenges like this every year, but I just keep reminding myself that this is an all-volunteer labor of love, and we just do our best. Thanks to everyone who shows up each year to keep the project alive!

Everyone involved in this project also has a day job, and the economy is challenging right now, but we are moving forward anyway. We had some donations come in over the holidays that will get the buoy in the water if we are very careful to spend it strategically. Thank you to those who pressed the Paypal button.

The picture above shows the electronic section on the work bench last night. Two more photos below.

Here James, Kevin and Paulo test the battery pack, cables, and solar charging circuitry on Sunday.


Me, Atreya and his Dad, Sam, retesting the charging system after repairs yesterday.

Our buoy is in the renovation stage right now. Itʻs a night and weekend project for us. Thanks to Paulo (picture below) for his late night dedication. Our goal is to have improved performance and have it in by Christmas, but there are a lot of variables. Many thanks to all who have contributed to our project over the years. Sending aloha and gratitude to each of you.

Tangled up In Blue - Maui Humpack Tangled, Blue Whales Song Lower

Two stories that are breaking in the Whale world today:

A juvenile Humpback is tangled in rope between Maui and Molokai, as teams prepare to entangle it. See Story. This points out the importance of reducing ocean nets, ropes, debris, which create problems for whales and dolphins.

Also, researchers are documenting the fact that the songs of the Blue Whale are getting lower in frequency. There is speculation on causes, and more about the mystery of these songs. See Story.

I'm back on Maui after extended travel, and will be working on the buoy, with the hopes of having her in the ocean by Christmas.

If you would like to contribute to this all-volunteer project, right now money to pay for batteries, a computer for the webcast, parts and supplies would be greatly appreciated. There is a Paypal button on the right side of this page.

More on Ice Sheets melting, and ocean levels rising

News continues to come to us of rising sea levels due to climate change.  This article says 1.5 inches since 1997.

Whales are arriving - Project Status Update

As the whales return, we volunteers at The Whalesong Project are scrambling to raise money to get the buoy back in the ocean. Itʻs an annual ritual, it seems for us. Launching and nurturing the project each whale season takes a lot of time and attention. Last season saw us participate in more events than ever, and at the same time our income dropped dramatically. At the end of each season we scramble back to our paying jobs so we are able to participate in another whale season, which always arrives faster than we expect. We always hope to have the buoy in early so we can hear the early season songs, but we do the best we can.....which means if everything goes well we will have her in the ocean by Christmas...which is when the babies start showing up and the singing begins in earnest. Of course, no one can really prove yet why these mysterious songs are sung, and why they evolve the way they do each year. I keep listening each year in fascination, and something new is learned each year. Maybe, like a puzzle, the "picture" of what we are hearing will be come clearer with time. In the meanwhile, listening and enjoying the fact that these beautiful creatures are still with us after a close brush with extinction, is an annual ritual and celebration for me.

The older Hawaiians tell us that the Whales arrive when the Makaliʻi, the Pleides, come up over the horizon and the Sandalwood Trees blossom. Itʻs the ancient season of the God Lono, who represents peace and agriculture. Itʻs a season when any war ceased. That season is upon us.

Whales Arriving - A New Season Begins

This unusual photo shows the President of the Maldive Islands at an underwater cabinet meeting, signing a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. Rising sea levels could put the Maldives under water. See Story.

We at Whalesong Project remain committed to raising awareness about ocean health issues, and to promoting activities that will protect the worldʻs oceans. We cannot have a healthy planet without healthy oceans.

I am in Thailand right now, where the ASEAN Community just completed their annual conference. They have made a strong unified commitment to dealing with global warming. Not far from here, the new Prime Minister of Japan has made a promise of aggressive cuts of carbon dioxide emissions, and a new generation of electric cars are being showcased. China is making great strides in solar cell production. But the challenges sometimes seem daunting, with the ice caps melting at unanticipated rates.

Switching topics, I, for one, am happy that our President received the Nobel Peace Prize. Without nuclear arms control and trust building, itʻs hard to imagine how we are going to be able to reduce the amount of sonar being used by the military powers of the world. Sonar is a problem if you are a whale or a dolphin, and use of sonar is growing. Congratulations President Obama! And thanks for recognizing global warming!

This picture was taken during a recent system upgrade meeting, as we prepare for season 10. Rich Shipley, shown on the computer desktop talking to me by Skype (Iʻm in Thailand), has been a vital part of the project since the beginning. Heʻs in California, and heʻs adding 100 more 64K audio streams. We plan these streams to be launchable from more platforms, easier to use, more reliable. Behind Rich is the new Whalesong German website http://www.whalesong.info, which was put together by Markus Enderle and his crew in Germany. We might be spread out, but we are committed. The whales are already arriving. New challenges await us all. Letʻs pull together and do the best we can, okay?

Getting ready for Season Number 10

The Whalesong Project is preparing for Season Ten! We continue to hear from teachers and students, and all kinds of people who are listening to our live webcast every year. We continue to operate as an all-volunteer organization focused on inspiring people to care for the oceans. We feel we made progress recently when the first necropsy was performed on Maui that looked at the ears of the beached whale for acoustic trauma. This is something we have been talking to numerous politicians and agencies about for the past nine years. We also are making progress on a new initiative to model sustainable living ideas on our home Island, Maui. We need to change our lifestyle as a species if we are going to slow the melting of the glaciers and keep the oceans healthy. We are calling this project Haleakalā Institute. Please join us in our work by volunteering, or by pushing the Paypal button on the right top side of this page.

Your donations will give our volunteers some money to work with on this labor of love. Last year was a challenging one financially and we are hoping for more support from our listeners this season, so we can make improvements and move our new projects forward. Thank you!!!

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