Earliest preserved whale song discovered in the WHOI archives

The earliest preserved whale songs have been hiding on Cape Cod for nearly eight decades!! A 1949 recording of a humpbackwhale, captured near Bermuda during acoustic experiments aboard the original R/V Atlantis, was discovered in the WHOI archives, where it resurfaced during a digitization project of audograph discs containing previously unknown content.

The find opens a rare acoustic window into how whale communication and noise in marine environments have changed over time.

Learn more in the WHOI Press Room: https://go.whoi.edu/pr-1949

© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution