Oscar Frey, founder of WCA Partner Ocean Friendly Tours and Director and Chief Researcher for Deep Blue Conservancy, is delighted to announce the release of his new album ”Echoenia – Underwater Harmonies of the Humpback Whales Vol.1”!
Words from Oscar Frey, founder of WCA Partner Ocean Friendly Tours and Director and Chief Researcher for Deep Blue Conservancy
Humpback whales, like all cetaceans are acoustical animals, the dominant sense they engage to relate to each other and the environment is hearing, therefore acoustics play a dominant role in their lives and their life cycles. Humpback whales have a very sophisticated and complex communication system, they not only produce the loudest sounds than any other mammal but also the widest repertoire of vocalizations than any other baleen whale species. In the tropical waters where humpback whales reproduce, these vocalizations are performed in musical arrangements by the males, the reason why they are called songs. As the structure of the song varies throughout time, every season some phrases are dropped and other new ones are added to the sequence of the song, sometimes changing its order or even the pitch. However, as they all sing the same song they also put their personal signature within the structure while performing it.
The role of the song is crucial for reproduction and migration, hence the main concern for whale´s conservation is noise pollution. Underwater noise pollution can blur the whales´ abilities to hear and find each other so it is important to consider this in order to preserve their habitat.
This selection of whale songs will take you to the acoustical world of the Humpback whales. You will note the changes of the songs over time, the spectrum of tones and arrangements they include in each song and the stunning resonance of the message they carry. Dive into it!
The album was released on the 19th of August and is now available on several platforms!
To listen on Spotify, head to https://open.spotify.com/album/2ZzNutu1laWNJ837ArakOv
To listen on UK iTunes, head to https://music.apple.com/gb/album/1528376431?app=itunes
To listen on UK Apple music, head to https://music.apple.com/gb/album/1528376431
Please note, if you are listening from outside the UK, change the ‘gb’ within the link to the relevant two letter ISO code for the country of your choice.
Oscar continues to conduct fluke identification studies and capture acoustical recordings of the Humpback whales songs that grace the water of the bay annually analyzing their musical structure and studying its variations over time.
For more information on WCA Partner Ocean Friendly Tours, visit their website HERE.
