Songs of the Humpback Whale is a 1970 album created by scientist Roger Payne. It was the first time people heard the complex sounds made by humpback whales. The album sold more than 100,000 copies, becoming the most popular environmental album ever. Sales helped fund the Wildlife Conservation Society's Whale Fund, which Payne led as a scientist. This group worked to protect whales by studying them and teaching people about them. The album made people aware of whales' intelligence and unique ways of living, helping start a global movement to save whales. This movement led to the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which agreed to a ten-year stop on commercial whaling. Most countries followed this rule, though a few did not.

Background

Roger Payne studied how bats and owls use sound to find things, but his interest in whale sounds happened by accident. In the late 1960s, he heard on the radio that a dead whale had washed up on Revere Beach, near Tufts University where he worked. He went to see it but found that people had already taken the tail fins from the dead porpoise. Someone had carved their initials into its body, and a cigar had been placed in its nostrils. He later said he removed the cigar and stood there for a long time, feeling emotions he could not explain. He believed everyone has a moment in life that changes them forever, and that night was his.

In 1966, Payne learned about recordings of whale sounds made by Frank Watlington, a Navy engineer. Eight years earlier, Watlington had recorded strange underwater sounds while working at a secret underwater listening station near Bermuda, searching for Russian submarines. Payne asked for copies of the recordings and discovered the whale songs repeated. The shortest songs lasted about six minutes, and the longest lasted over thirty minutes. Some songs could play continuously for up to 24 hours. When the sounds were graphed, they showed a clear pattern.

Later research by Payne and his wife, Katharine Payne, found that all male whales in the same ocean sing the same song. These songs change slightly each year and never return to previous versions. Katharine Payne also found that the longer whale songs had structures similar to rhyming in songs, with key parts repeating at regular intervals. This suggests whales may use memory tools to help them remember complex songs.

Reception

The album became an unexpected success, selling over 125,000 copies quickly and later achieving multi-platinum status. It became the most popular nature recording in history. Sales from the album helped support the Whale Fund of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which was then called the New York Zoological Society. Payne worked as a research zoologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society and as Scientific Director of its Whale Fund while creating the album and its follow-up, Deep Voices, from 1966 to 1983.

In 1979, the National Geographic magazine included a flexi disc with parts of the album in its Vol. 155, No. 1 issue. Payne provided commentary for the excerpts. The disc was sent to 10.5 million subscribers, making it the largest single recording press in history. This helped increase public awareness about whales.

The album’s recordings and popularity helped drive efforts to stop commercial whaling, which was putting many whale species near extinction. In 1970, Payne gave testimony to the United States Department of the Interior to request that great whale species be listed as endangered. He played recordings of humpback whale songs during the meeting. Over the next few years, laws were passed to protect whales, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Commercial whaling was finally banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.

Parts of the album were used in songs by Judy Collins, Léo Ferré, and Kate Bush. They also appeared in the symphonic suite And God Created Great Whales by Alan Hovhaness and in the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. An excerpt was included on the Voyager Gold Record, which traveled aboard the Voyager program spacecraft. A section from "Solo Whale" was used for sound effects in the 1989 Toho film Godzilla vs. Biollante.

Other recordings of humpback and other whales have tried to use the album’s popularity. In 2010, the album was added to the National Recording Registry as one of the recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important and reflect life in the United States.

In 1977, Payne released a follow-up album, Deep Voices – The Second Whale Record (Capitol ST 11598), which included sounds of blue whales and right whales.

Track listing

• "Solo Whale" – 9:32 (recorded by: Frank Watlington)
• "Slowed-Down Solo Whale" – 1:05 (recorded by: Frank Watlington)
• "Tower Whales" – 3:23 (recorded by: Roger & Katharine Payne)
• "Distant Whale" – 3:55 (recorded by: Frank Watlington)
• "Three Whale Trip" – 16:31 (recorded by: Roger & Katharine Payne)