I recently received humpback whale song from a friend who was visiting Maui, gathered from a whale watching boat. It was fantastic and the calming song of a humpback whale sent me across the pacific to the archipelago Kingdon of Tonga. Humpback whales, Megatera novaeangliae spend part of their life cycle in the rich polar region of Antarctica where they feed. In Tonga, the whales gather in their winter months to give birth, presumably mate and sing one of the greatest songs on earth. Only the males sing elaborate songs and the reasons have been debated for decades. Among the ideas is that the males are attracting females. However, what is observed underwater are other males joining the singer, perhaps forming an alliance or listening to the “top hits”. All males in a oceanic region will sing a variation of the same song that is passed along across 100’s of miles.
It is our greatest privilege to snorkel among the singers of Tonga, feeling the song pulsate through our core.
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