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I recorded the swim with a GoPro on an extension arm, and when I got back, the sounds were there. These waters have a lot of background noise from all of the loose sand and crustaceans on the ocean bottom. At first listen, that’s what you’ll hear—but as it goes along, you’ll recognize the unmistakable sound of humpback whales singing.

As I’ve explained previously, their behavior in Hawaii is very different than what we see of humpbacks in the Northwest coast. Off the coast of Maui in February especially, they are busily engaged in courtship and mating rituals, which is what scientists believe their songs are related to. Most of these recordings feature dozens of other humpback whales joining in on a chorus—and of course, one of the remarkable things about these whales is that they are all singing the same piece of music.

Here’s a recording of humpbacks singing as a chorus between Maui and Molokai in 2011:

For comparison, here’s a recording of humpbacks seemingly teaching the song to a calf (at least that’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it) off the coast of San Juan Island in 2016. This is a long one, and the most symphonic:

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