WHALE STORIES - SEA RUNNING

A personal story:

"The spring winds around Bermuda often blow for long, unrelenting periods. At such times the seas build and build until everything is rolling and reeling and toppling. All you can do is hang on and wish it would end. Sometimes the wind dips sharply, and there is no press of air on the sails to hold the boat steady, so it pirouettes drunkenly, bowing and curtsying. It's very uncomfortable aboard. The old sailors call this a 'left over sea running'.

"We were out gathering sound recordings of humpback whales and had been through a rough night. By morning we were very tired and about ready to return when the wind subsided. I put the hydrophone down and started listening. The contrast was amazing. Beneath the wildly gyrating surface were the sweetest, most serene and lovely sounds one might ever hear. Clearly the whale didn't care at all about what was happening up above on the ocean surface. It had its own disposition - its own song."