This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a whale on Feb. 24, 2009, near Maui, Hawaii. (Aran T. Mooney/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP)2026-03-16T12:09:11Z PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say its the oldest such recording known.The song is that of a humpback whale, a marine giant beloved by whale watchers for its docile nature and spectacular leaps from the water, and was recorded by scientists in March 1949 in Bermuda, said researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. (AP Illustration/Marshall Ritzel) (AP Illustration/Marshall Ritzel) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Just as significant is the sound of the surrounding ocean itself, said Peter Tyack, a marine bioacoustician and emeritus research scholar at Woods Hole. The ocean of the late 1940s was much quieter than the ocean of today, providing a different backdrop than scientists are used to hearing for whale song, he said.The recovered recordings not only allow us to follow whale sounds, but they also tell us what the ocean soundscape was like in the late 1940s, Tyack said. Thats very difficult to reconstruct otherwise. A preserved recording from the 1940s can also help scientists better understand how new human-made sounds, such as increased shipping noise, affect the way whales communicate, Tyack said. Research published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that whales can vary their calling behavior depending on noises in their environment. The recording predates scientist Roger Paynes discovery of whale song by nearly 20 years. Woods Hole scientists on a research vessel at the time were testing sonar systems and performing acoustic experiments along with the U.S. Office of Naval Research when they captured the sound, said Ashley Jester, director of research data and library services at Woods Hole. The scientists didnt know what they were hearing, but they decided to record and save the sounds anyway, Jester said. And they were curious. And so they kept this recorder running, and they even made time to make recordings where they werent making any noise from their ships on purpose just to hear as much as they could, said Jester. And they kept these recordings.Woods Hole scientists discovered the song while digitizing old audio recordings last year. The recording was on a well-preserved disc created by a Gray Audograph, a kind of dictation machine used in the 1940s. Jester located the disc.While the early underwater recording equipment used to capture the sound would be considered crude by todays standards, it was cutting-edge at the time, Jester said. And the fact that the sound is recorded on a plastic disc is significant because most recordings of the time were on tape, which has long since deteriorated, she said. This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a Gray Audograph, a device used to record sound, on Feb. 4, 2026, in Woods Hole, Mass. (Rachel Mann/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a Gray Audograph, a device used to record sound, on Feb. 4, 2026, in Woods Hole, Mass. (Rachel Mann/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Whales sound-making ability is critical to their survival and key to how they socialize and communicate. The sounds come in the form of clicks, whistles and calls, according to NOAA scientists who study them.The sounds also allow the whales to find food, navigate, locate each other and understand their surroundings in the vast ocean, scientists say. Several species make repetitive sounds that resemble songs. Humpback whales, which can weigh more than 55,000 pounds (24,947 kilograms), are the oceans most renowned singers, capable of complex vocalizations that can sound ethereal or even mournful. Whale Song Frequency and Chromatic Analyzer Whale Song Frequency and Chromatic Analyzer Researchers say the recent discovery of the oldest known recordings of whale sounds could open up a new understanding of how the animals communicate. Scientists say therecording is important because it documents whale song from a time when the ocean was quieter. Use this tool to see and hear what whales sounded like in the 1940s and more recently. Audio Options ORIGINAL NOISE REDUCED 2015 whale Play 40 Hz1005001k5k10k20 kHz FREEZE Frequency Hz closest Chromatic note FROZEN 1940s whale Play 40 Hz1005001k5k10k20 kHz FREEZE Frequency Hz closest Chromatic note FROZEN Analyzer by Marshall Ritzel The discovery of long-lost whale song from a quieter ocean could be a jumping-off point to better understanding the sounds the animals make today, said Hansen Johnson, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.And, you know, its just beautiful to listen to and has really inspired a lot of people to be curious about the ocean, and care about ocean life in general, said Johnson, who was not involved in the research. Its pretty special. This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a whale off the West Antarctica Peninsula on Jan. 4, 2017. (Tyler Rohr/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) This photo provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a whale off the West Antarctica Peninsula on Jan. 4, 2017. (Tyler Rohr/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. PATRICK WHITTLE Whittle is an Associated Press reporter based in Portland, Maine. He focuses on the environment and oceans. twitter mailto