2025 Song of the Humpback Whale, Recorded Underwater in French Polynesia

I was able to spend time again this fall on the island of Moorea, near Tahiti in French Polynesia, to observe humpback whales. While photography was the main objective, I am always interested in recording whalesong and had several opportunities this year. As before, I am indebted to Pierre Serreli  for his help and guidance in achieving both photos and whalesong recordings as well as Captain Temana for his excellent boat handling and personal assistance. Since humpback whalesong changes worldwide from year to year it is worth recording the song for posterity each season.We had good success with 2024’s Humpback Whale Song but I was hopeful we could record an even cleaner rendition this year.  Finding ideal conditions is challenging: solitude is necessary (so that noise from passing boats does not disturb the whale or the recording) and agreeable weather. Not to mention just finding a singer – it is not easy since they tend to be solitary and are always underwater for long periods of time. We had a fantastic singer on our first day this season but high winds and swell meant the hydrophone was not stationary in the water. Later in the week we found a cooperative singer in relatively calm water with no one else around and I made the recording I was hoping for over the course of about 90 minutes. I made some tweaks from my technique of last year and I think the resulting recording has a better signal-to-noise ratio.