Chant des baleines

These images are from two encounters we had in 2001. The first was an early morning encounter with a mother and calf while we were still at anchor in Platypus Bay on the the west coast of Fraser Island. The second encounter was later that day with a breaching whale named Sky Rider. The mother and calf in this video approached us around 7am while we were at anchor in 3 meters of water. Sky Rider had already been constantly breaching when we approached him. We stopped counting after sixty breaches. He was still breaching when we left him. There are many theories as to why whales breach. Personally, we feel that they breach for the pure joy of it. It is the only way they are able to experience gravity in the same way we do. The song is clearly audible through the hull of the research vessel. Depending on the proximity of the singer, the song is also audible while standing on the deck. The sound pressure level of the song is reduced significantly once it pass