@kellitiger: Thanks, I hope you can make it back out! It really is an amazing thing, sometimes listening to this and remembering gives me goosebumps. :-)

Listen for the low frequency stutters here and after

A nice trumpeting here

Several whales breath here

@a minimal virus: Thanks for your compliments but all I did was hit record! This is a live recording taken using a hydrophone while recording humpback whales. The fishing boats were in the area and one came very close by. You can hear him running fast and then slowing down and approaching our boat. This is just how it sounded below the surface without any further input from me.

@Kishan South: Ha! Yes, he really puts out some power on that one. He was one of the closer whales. When you can hear the low tones that clearly yoy can tell he is someplace cloe by...

That buzzing in the background is a bilge pump running aboard one of our tenders. You can hear it a few other times during the recording, too...

@SchizoBrainiac: Always happy to share, it is exceptional. I hope you enjoy my other tracks, too.

@Synaptic Cyberstar: Thanks Cyberstar! Maybe you can join us on a trip some day and feel the music for yourself! I hope you enjoy all of my postings. Cheers!

@CaptGene: Whatever they are saying on the Silver Bank is more likely about attracting a mate or establishing territory or dominance.

@QUETZATL: There are different "moods" at work, but none of it has to do with feeding. The Silver Bank is a breeding ground, and the whales do not eat at all for the few months they are there. Who knows what they are saying, but it has nothing to do with food on the Silver Bank. And you are exactly right about the low frequencies sounding like whales. Katy Payne, the wife of famed whalesong researcher Roger Payne, made the same connection and now studies humpbacks and elephants, which are both able to communicate over very long distances. And there currently are scientific grade hydrophones available that hear and record far outside the range of human hearing, but there is no need for me to use those in my current applications!

@nordmograph: No, I have not done that because I was not aware of the capability. Interesting website, I'll check it out a little more closely and see how it works. Thanks, very cool!

@QUETZATL: QUETZATL, we were in a boat drifting, so we were likely moving away, and sometimes the whales will move a bit, too, so the sound quality can change. I hear the difference you are commenting on, but I can't tell you for certain what the situation was.

@Hairbrain: Hi Hairbrain! I use an Aquarian Aidio Products model H2a_XLR hydrophone hooked up to Zoom H4n digital recorder. But my biggest advantage is access: there are thousands of whales on the Silver Bank where I operate, so we get lots of good opportunities. But having the right equipment really helps, too!

@QUETZATL: Thanks QUETZATL! You are right, they are saying the same thing. All humpback whales in a population do sing the same song! It changes a little over time, and they each have their own voices, but what they are singing is the same. Now, if we can just figure out what that is... :-)

And here the debate ends, with no clear resolution. It will be interesting to see where this will go from here next season.

Here listeners start speaking up, reinforcing the point Independence raised at 4:43, which is that the marine VHF radio is not an appropriate venue for such a long winded debate. The question is not whether the debate is appropriate, only the choice of venues.

An excellent point. Whale watch operators are the most qualified to offer guidelines or regulations in light of their experience.

Here Lawrence touches on my point about experience.

What is very important to remember here is the semantics of the discussion. The general public knows "whale watching" to be the activity of observing wild whales from shore or the deck of a boat. In Tonga, the term "whale watching" is used interchangeably with the term "swimming with whales", which is the activity of entering the water in an attempt to see and interact with 40 ton wild animals. So when a speaker says "whale watch" he means "swim with whales". And while no family of five would pay US$1,000 to watch whales from the deck of a boat, they should expect to pay that to interact with a wild animal in its natural environment while under the leadership of an experienced guide. To use my lion analogy again, anyone should be allowed to go on a jeep safari to see lions in Africa, but if they expect to get out of the jeep and walk into the bush to the lion's den, they better be prepared to pay their guide well so they can benefit from his experience, have a successful interaction and come out unharmed. And while a whale is not a lion and will not eat anyone, they are still very dangerous to the inexperienced and uninitiated.

This speaker is from a private yacht named Ghost. At this point he begins to complain about the attitudes of local swim-with-whale operators by comparing them to local scuba dive operators, and pointing out the differences in the levels of cooperation. However, what he fails to take into consideration is that there is a huge difference between sharing coordinates to a local dive sight with standing by watching as inexperienced, untrained and novice yachtsmen enter the water to interact with 40 ton wild animals. Everyone should be allowed to go to the zoo to see the lions, but that does not mean that everyone should be allowed to enter the lion's den.

Their argument at this point is off subject, but they are trying to relate the applications of other laws as an exmple of how to adhere to rules that do or do not exist for the whales. And the two speakers start speaking about two separate situations, so they are really comparing oranges and grapefruit: similar, but different subjects

Lawrence Hall is a representative of the Vava'u Toursit Association and proprietor of Ovava, a restaurant which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u. Here Lawrence is countering Mr. Hardings emphasis on the letter of the law (or lack thereof) by pointing out old, arcane laws related to cruising in Tonga which are never enforced in practice. Basically, he is saying that if yachstmen want to argue that they are not breaking any laws, then as law abiding cruisers they should also abide by these old laws which greatly limit their freedom to move about.

Here Mr. Harding misses the point Independence was trying to make. He believes she has a problem with him expressing his opinion, when in fact her problem is with his choice of venue, the public VHF radio.

Independence is a private yacht. The speaker is bringing up the point that using the VHF radio on a frequency dedicated to port communications is probably not the best or most appropriate venue to resolve this matter. She is correct.

This speaker is Alister, a local representative of the Tonga Whale Watch Operator's Association. Baker and Alister represent the two poles of the debate.

Voice of Baker Harding, yachtsman and a moderator of the Vava'u daily VHF cruiser's net. Baker has lived aboard his boat in Vava'u for a few years and has assumed the position of spokesman for the cruising yachtsmen during that time.

The voice of Vava'u Port Control. VHF radio channel 26, where this broadcast was transmitted, is the primary channel for communications for all commercial and marine traffic in the Vava'u island group.

Pino is one of the local Customs officers in Vava'u, who clear all cruising vessel's into the port, making him a reliable source of information on the subject.

As is often the case, it comes down to enforcement. Laws need to be enacted, first, but then there needs to be an enforcing authority to police everyone who interacts with the whales in any way. As it stands now, the "wild west" situation will continue...

Steve is the proprietor of Crow's Nest Cafe, a restaurant which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u.

This speaker is Mike, the proprietor of The Aquarium Cafe, which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u.

Agreed! Properly done, swimming with whales is a benign activity; improperly done it is harassment at best, dangerous at worst. It should only be undertaken under the direct supervision of experienced and licensed operators.

Yes there should be laws regulating whale watching in Tonga, the sooner the better.

This is the voice of Alister, a local representative of the Tonga Whale Watch Operator's Association. Baker and Alister represent the two poles of the debate.

Voice of Baker Harding, yachtsman and a moderator of the Vava'u daily VHF cruiser's net. Baker has lived aboard his boat in Vava'u for a few years and has assumed the position of spokesman for the cruising yachtsmen during that time. Here he refers to Alister, who is a local representative of the Tonga Whale Watch Operator's Association.

This speaker is Alister, a local representative of the Tonga Whale Watch Operator's Association. Baker and Alister represent the two poles of the debate.

Steve is the proprietor of Crow's Nest Cafe, a restaurant which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u

Lawrence Hall is a representative of the Vava'u Toursit Association and proprietor of Ovava, a restaurant which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u

Mike is the proprietor of The Aquarium Cafe, which serves the many whale watch tourists and cruisers who visit Vava'u.