The song under the sea
Un sonido misterioso lleva a descubrir cómo se comunican las ballenas.
At first, Leo believes the whale-watching trip has been a failure. The horizon remains empty, and the only movement comes from waves striking the research boat. Then his aunt hands him headphones connected to an underwater microphone, known as a hydrophone. A sequence of deep, changing notes reaches his ears. Whales communicate through sound because light travels poorly through deep or cloudy water, while sound can travel long distances underwater. Different species produce different calls, and researchers are still investigating what many of these signals mean. Some sounds are associated with maintaining contact or finding mates; others may serve different purposes. Leo's aunt is careful not to describe the calls as sentences. The recording tells them that whales are nearby, but it does not provide a translation of their conversations. Later, a whale surfaces briefly, releases a visible breath and dives again. The crew does not chase it. Keeping distance reduces the risk of disturbing an animal that may be feeding or travelling. On the return journey, Leo listens to the recording once more. He realises that the most memorable part of the day was not the few seconds when he saw the whale. It was discovering that a seemingly empty ocean contains a world of sounds that humans are only beginning to understand.