Humpback Hit Factory

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2019

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There's a humpback whale song sensation that's sweeping the South Pacific. We'll learn about the burgeoning study of "whale culture"-and why these super smart cetaceans may have a lot more in common with us than we'd ever imagined. For more information on this episode visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard. Want more? Meet National Geographic Photographer Brian Skerry, and see examples of his work beneath the waves. Read Ellen Garland's original paper on whale song transmission, and listen to the humpback audio recordings that helped her piece this phenomenon together. Here's the backstory behind those whale songs you heard at the top of the show, from Roger Payne's Songs of the Humpback Whale. Also explore: Sperm whales in the Caribbean form clans that have their own unique dialects-and thus culture. Video: Off the coast of Argentina, seasoned killer whales hunt sea lion pups. Whale song recordings off Hawaii have revealed a strange series of deep beats almost inaudible to humans. An unusual number of humpback whales are dying along the U.S. East Coast, and scientists are racing to figure out why. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You can imagine you're in this sort of blue void.
0:03.8	You're out in oftentimes open ocean.
0:07.0	You see this whale and it's motionless.
0:09.6	It's just sitting there in that position without moving.
0:14.1	Wow. And you hear these, these almost otherworldly sounds
0:20.2	emanating from this animal.
0:30.8	I ain't scared. He's kind of a legend around here.
0:35.7	He's a photographer who's worked with National Geographic for more than 20 years,
0:39.4	doing a lot of our underwater stories.
0:41.9	We've sent him out to shoot sharks and sea turtles,
0:45.1	even a pirate shipwreck. But many of his most memorable photos involve going
0:49.6	nose-to-nose with whales.
0:54.0	This sound we're hearing?
0:56.4	It's the song of a male humpback.
1:00.9	At times they can sound like a creaking door,
1:04.9	like something you'd hear in a spooky movie.
1:07.1	Other times it is more melodic.
1:09.0	It has more of a song quality to it.
1:11.7	And the sound is just vibrating inside of you.
1:16.3	It's surreal.
1:19.6	Brian's always been fascinated by humpback songs.
1:22.5	But recently, he learned something about these songs.
	...

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