A whale of a song

12 thoughts on “A whale of a song”

1. Great ! I notice the whale presses his/her “sonar receiver dome” (I’m guessing that’s what the bump is at ‘brow’ level) against the glass near the end after going up for air. Beluga whales are known as sea canaries ~ just listen to the bird-like sounds in HERE [video]

2. Hey Evolutionists,

   What is the difference between a whale and a dolphin? They look like the same kind to me. Whales are just old dolphins that grew vert large, IMO.

   /s

   But seriously, what is the difference between dolphins and beluga whales? Before genetics, how did we know the difference from morphological characteristics?

   1. Interesting that. Gets me to wondering what is different when comparing bears to dogs.

      But, what is the difference between putrefied zombie (aka christ) and flour?

3. What would Fahey do?

4. Nice. It’s quite humbling to observe.
   Reminds me of “ku lokk” from Norway. They use(d) to move the cows up in the mountains during the short summer season, where the grass is fresh and rich. The cows walked free and had to be called in for the milking. So they used the “ku lokk” telling the cows it was time to gather together with the “budeie” (milkmaid).
   Here’s an example of such a “ku lokk” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I44PUvoL70w

5. I had a lot of fun playing with ASU’s very own Mariachis Diablos del Sol during my tenure there. We’ve got a brand-new aquarium in town…I’ll have to mention this to somebody to see if the experiment can be replicated….

   b&

   1. You’ll have to report back if the Belugas seem like they can hear you. I would say they can hear all of it, but especially the trumpet.

      1. Oh, I haven’t played with them (or any other Mariachi) for ages, so I probably wouldn’t directly participate in the experiment. And I don’t think they’ve got any mammals at all there. They’ve got a giant Pacific Octopus, though…maybe it’d like to listen to some orchestral excerpts? Some Mahler, Pictures, Pines, that sort of thing?

         b&

         1. I’m guessing they’d prefer string octets.

6. Here’s an interesting exchange between a philosopher (David Rothenberg) and a scientist:
   http://www.realitysandwich.com/rothenberg_vs_scientists_round_1

   And some more whale articles at:
   http://www.realitysandwich.com/blog/david_rothenberg
   including Moby Click:
   http://www.realitysandwich.com/moby_click
   about a Senegalese drummer being able to hear the sounds more clearly.

7. That glass is really thick, I’d be surprised if the whale could hear anything clearly identifiable as their music.

   1. sEE COMMENT #1 ~ The whale presses his/her head against the glass – I’m sure s/he hears everything then, but for the rest of the time I will go with this QUOTE:

      …Mystic Aquarium senior trainer Kelly O’Neil told the New Haven Register that Juno, the 1,200-pound beluga on the video, has been trained to bob in response to certain arm movements, and was apparently responding to the movements of the band’s guitar player.

      O’Neil says the whale’s apparent interest in the wedding was probably due to the music’s vibrations, those physical cues and the whale’s natural curiosity

Comments are closed.