WHALE STORIES - SNORING

A personal story:

"On calm days whales often appear to be sleeping. They become so unresponsive and motionless that they no longer opened and closed their nostrils cleanly. Their breathing becomes snoring!

"We were on an excursion to record whale songs on one particular calm day. We were very close, in the middle of a group of whales. We could hear the sounds of wavelets breaking against their bodies and sometimes even feel their breath. We got an ordinary microphone and held it to within a few inches of a whale's nostrils. There were three whales lying asleep very close together. We managed to come in close enough to record and then withdraw without them waking up. It was a powerful experience to be so close to such deep and gargantuan sleep."