As soon as the engine of the boat was turned off, the tranquility that seemed to devour all things enveloped the calm, mirror-like sea. Pricked up your ears and listened… Sure enough, the song of a crying whale could be heard faintly. It was too late and then too fast, a huge circle of bubbles appeared on the sea, countless herrings flew into the sky together, and six whales jumped up with their mouths open.
In July, we went out to sea in southeastern Alaska to track the humpback whales. In those days, what kind of mood did the ancestors of the Indians living in this land, the Haida and Trigits, stare at these giant creatures? They are surrounded by forests and seas, living in abundant nature, and there is no need to risk whaling. Presumably they were looking at the behemoth in the ocean through the trees in the forest with infinite fear.
Speaking of which, several years ago, I went to Brother Island, which was also floating on this sea, and walked into the virgin forest on the island. Whether it is standing trees or fallen dead trees, whether the ground or rocks, the surface is covered with moss. This ancient forest is like a living body, forming a wonderful world. I wandered in the woods as if possessed. Maybe I’m searching for a timeline I don’t understand in the silent, motionless forest aura. Because in the extremely long golden years, this forest is moving a little bit, and I want to feel this movement that is invisible to the naked eye in my heart.
At this moment, a magical sound came from a distance. Huh-huh-a faint sound through the forest, seeping into the ears. What the hell is this sound? I walked through the trees, step by step, just to find out what the sound was about. After a while, the surroundings brightened. Suddenly, I had walked through the forest and came to a seashore the size of a palm. I saw two humpback whales in the sea in front of me, swimming happily while spraying water. I sat on the bank and watched them go away until the two figures disappeared on the horizon. Did the ancient Indians stare at whales like I did? Looking out over the Coast Mountains, you can see several glacier-covered valleys. The glaciers that once completely covered the land retreated slowly, the new earth gave birth to forests unknowingly, and the waters poured into the deep valleys, bringing whales as well. How many times has the same thing been repeated in the history of the earth? An indescribable feeling enveloped me. Perhaps at a certain point in the long years, forests, glaciers and whales forged an indissoluble bond.
The old Trike said, “…a long time ago, a whale as big as a mountain floated up to the calm sea, opened its huge mouth, and sucked in the atmosphere under the clear sky at will. At this moment, suddenly came from a distance. A raven flew into the whale’s big mouth. The whale rolled around in agony, and finally washed up on the shore, dying. The raven was not in a hurry, jumping up and down in the whale’s belly, singing while making noise. Villagers passing by the coast heard the sound of singing coming from the belly of the dead whale, and were shocked. They hurriedly asked the neighbors to help and disembowel the whale. Seeing the raven coming out of the whale’s belly, the villagers were surprised again and invited it Served as the mayor of the village. So the raven incarnated as a human and began to rule the village… So until now, the raven clan and the whale clan are still as closely related as relatives.” It is
said that human scientific interest in whales began in 1968. American marine life The song of humpback whales discovered by scientist Roger Payne in Bermuda waters is no exaggeration. His discovery also became a milestone and sparked a global environmental movement. When I met him, he was recording the songs of humpback whales off Alaska.
That night, we anchored in the same bay. That’s how I got the chance to have a deep conversation with Roger Payne. Coincidentally, it is also a coincidence that the best friend he met when he was a student was actually my neighbor in Fairbanks, USA. He told me about his first encounter with a whale.
…I had just graduated from university and had only started doing research not long ago. One night, I was working very late in the university’s research room, when suddenly, a piece of news came out on the radio, saying that a whale had beached on the nearby coast. I drove over immediately, flashed my flashlight in the rain, and walked forward step by step, when I saw a small whale lying on the deserted beach.
Part of the caudal fin was cut off as a souvenir. There was a cigarette stuck in the air hole, maybe it was a prank. In the flashlight’s light, blue-white waves washed over the whale’s body. I stood there dumbfounded, motionless. Everyone has the experience of a lifetime, doesn’t it? For me, that night was the experience of a lifetime. I made up my mind to study whales for the future of mankind, and make it my lifelong subject…
The sun has already set, but the surrounding is not completely dark, and there are little stars in the sky.
Before I knew it, I found myself missing a pod of whales. Instead, groups of dolphins flashed past like arrows from time to time, leaving trails of light as pale as luminous insects on the sea.
Before long, the dividing line between the sea and the sky could not be clearly seen, and countless stars blinked in the sky. I looked into the night sky and remembered something Roger Payne mentioned: The humans who carried whale songs from the ocean to the land are now sending their voices out into space.
In 1977, the American space probes Voyager 1 and 2 were launched, and they were still sailing in the Milky Way at this time, carrying messages from Earth to aliens. It is said that the recordings of the humpback whale songs can be preserved for more than 1 billion years. Could it be that someday there will be alien life that we have no idea about discovering that record and reading the whale song? I can’t say enough about that possibility.
But in my mind, the old Trigit and Roger Payne, who told me the myth of the raven and the whale, suddenly overlapped. Because I feel strongly that the idea that drives us to send whale songs to the universe is as much a myth as a human-made, and constantly tortured, myth of the meaning of its existence.
