Out there in the deep blue ocean, the Humpback Whales are wintering in the Caribbean; here to breed and have their young. It is part of the fascinating life of the whales, not fully understood but revered by people around the globe. 

In a small boat off Tortola on Sunday March 2, a microphone dropped into the water picks up the communication between these 40- to 50-foot long, 36-ton creatures. Through the crackling of shrimp and the passage of motorboats, the call of the Humpback Whales can be heard; so complex and pleasing to the human ear, it is called singing.

No one knows for sure, but the singing we are listening to is thought to be related to their mating rituals this time of year. Only males sing; the coos, groans and a distinctive train whistle sound are repeated back and forth to each other with slight variations – like jazz music, said Paul Knapp Jr., periodically leaning forward to hear the sounds from a speaker in his small inflatable boat.

The singing can travel up to ten miles in the water here, shallow compared to the deep ocean where the sounds can travel 30 miles. Listening carefully, Knapp estimated there was a pair of males about two miles away. Some of the songs are joyful, some are mournful, bringing the four of us accompanying Knapp into a relaxing repose . . .  silent and listening.

For over 25 seasons, Knapp has been taking people out to listen to the whales. He does not charge his guests, he said it is enough that ‘new ears’ get to hear the songs.

“This [whale singing] is one of the hidden secrets of the earth, and few people are paying attention,” Knapp said. “It’s one of those things you know and people should hear.”

Many people think Humpback Whales have the prettiest song of all whales, Knapp said. And before the invention of microphones and sound equipment, the only time the songs were heard was through the hulls of ships. He has recorded a CD of the singing called Raptures of the Deep that he makes available to his guests.

Humpback Whales were almost hunted to extinction in the 1900s – his estimates say 80 percent of their population was killed. An international treaty now protects the whales, and hunting Humpbacks was abandoned because the population dropped so low, according to wikipedia.com. Researchers said Humpback Whale populations have rebounded, in some places to pre-hunting levels. Whales are still threatened by collisions with ships, entanglement in fishing equipment and noise pollution, that can actually cause fractures to their sensitive hearing structures.

Found in waters all over the planet, Humpback Whales feed in colder waters and come to the warm waters of the Caribbean to have their young because Knapp said the calves do not have the blubber necessary to endure the cold waters.

This group migrates up to Nova Scotia and the coast of the Northeastern US, Knapp said, one of many groups that are found in oceans all over the world. The whales eat in the northern latitudes, sometimes working together to corral fish schools before they take turns swimming through the circle, netting huge mouthfuls of fish.

The songs and habits of the whales exhibit an intelligence, Knapp said, and the complexity of their breeding and social organisation are not completely understood. The singing may be just a form of communication, used competitively in mating rituals as well as in everyday life.

Scientists speculate that the low frequency singing is meant to attract the females, and the higher tones that can be heard when closer are to impress the females, Knapp said. Groups of two to twenty males gather around a single female, singing to establish dominance in what is known as a competitive pod, according to wikipedia. The pod changes in size as different males come and go, trying their luck with the female.

Humpback Whales are famous for breaching – jumping part-ways out of the water – and whale watching tours are a big tourist draw in Hawaii, the Eastern United States, Australia and around the world. Off Tortola, Knapp said he can go a whole winter season only seeing one or two, but he said the songs can be heard usually daily during the winter months.

As a boat goes by, drowning out the delicate songs, Knapp plays a radio interview with a scientist who has studied whale songs for years. The scientist said the male whales sing back and forth to each other, with slight variations in the five to fifteen note phrases. They speculate that the whale with the best improvisational ability would make the best breeding partner.

“It’s like a pick-up line,” one of the members of the expedition said. Knapp agrees with a reserved smile.

The songs are distinct within each group, and change with every call and response, Knapp said. The whales will drop out a note, slide a note up or down, or add a warbling effect to the song. Whale songs have been used to promote the environmental movement in the 1970s and 1980s, but the ‘snippets’ do not do justice to the complexity and beauty of the songs, Knapp said.

The haunting beauty of the songs calls him out to the water nearly every day, sometimes twice a day. Most of the guests he brings out are the sailors that visit the island and people staying at the Brewers Bay Campground. Musicians are especially impressed by the singing, he said, and several prominent musicians have been taken out by Knapp.

Researchers can tell the difference between each group just by listening to their songs. Knapp said with all the variation going on, the songs being sung at the be ginning of the season will be unrecognisable at the end. 

Knapp hesitates to try and describe how the singing impacts people. He just wants people to experience it for themselves what these huge mammals are communicating beneath the seas of the Virgin Islands. He has a website (whalelistening.com) where  more information about his beloved whales can be found, as well as how to get his CDs of the singing.
On his CD is information about the whales, their unique characteristics and habits. Knapp was quoted on it, saying:

“I find something truthful and relevant in their song that keeps me wanting to hear more. Some sounds are just so beautiful. They’re like hidden secrets that I think we will increasingly be more aware of, surprised and happy to hear.

Humpback whales give a voice to all the whales, and to me, they give a voice to the ocean itself. Perhaps in part through them, we will want to learn even more about the vocalizations, lives and water home of the other whales, dolphins and porpoises, about 80 species altogether.”

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