WHALE STORIES - HERD NOISES

A personal story:

"Every spring, humpback whales mysteriously appear and pass by Bermuda, as if from nowhere. During the three or four months that the parade goes by the ocean is seldom silent, always filled with their songs.

"They have another vocabulary, however, which includes sounds that we never hear in songs. These are social sounds, called herd noises - made in little bursts and followed by long silences. They are often frantic and close together as though there was some momentary squabble in their otherwise serene and gliding lives."