Herman Melvile, the writer of the famous whale story Moby Dick, once wrote that humpback whales were "the most lighthearted of all the whales." Known to be intelligent animals and can be seen working together to hunt schools of small fish, humpbacks are a favorite of whale watchers everywhere. And, if you listen closely, you might even hear one singing.
Marine (海洋) biologist Jim Darling has studied the songs of humpback whales for more than 25 years. While recording whale songs on a boat near Hawaii, he invited author Douglas Chadwick to experience diving with a humpback. In the water, Chadwick heard the whale's songs in a way he never heard them before. "Suddenly, I no longer heard the whale's voice in my ears," he said. "I felt it inside my head and bones." When swimming with the whale, Chadwick could see that the whale was aware of him, but not alarmed by his presence. Up in the boat, Darling recorded the whale's song, which can be long and complex, sometimes lasting for 30 minutes or more. Actually, they are perhaps the longest songs sung by any animal.
Darling says that only male humpbacks sing, but for unknown reasons, it was previously thought that they sang to attract females, but scientists showed this was incorrect when they played recordings of whale songs in the ocean and the female whales did not respond. Another idea is that male humpbacks compete with each other using songs, just as other male animals on land do using their horns or sharp teeth.
Researchers have also found that humpback whale songs are different in different parts of the world, perhaps like whale national songs. They may also be like hit tunes on the radio, changing over time—from one year to the next, or even over a single breeding season when they produce young.
Another member of the research team, photographer Flip Nicklin, recalls a special moment he had while interacting with a humpback. While he was snorkeling(潜水) some distance from the huge animal, it approached him until it was just a few metres away. It then gently carried Nicklin towards its eye with a flipper(鳍肢), as if examine him. Obviously, the urge to understand a different species goes both ways.
In 1969, watching the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon on TV from his parents' farm in Canada, Chris Hadfield was amazed and excited. On that day, at only nine years old, Chris made the most important decision of his life: He was going to be an astronaut.
There wasn't even a training program in Canada to become an astronaut; but Chris was determined. He spent a great deal of time studying and fixing engines. After school he joined the Canadian army where he learned to fly many different types of planes. Chris did a lot of research for the National Aeronautics and Space Admmistration (NASA) in the United States and had special training. Finally, in 1995 he rode his first rocket into space.
Chris became the first Canadian astronaut to walk in spare, and went on a number of space missions throughout his carcer. The most memorable was his five-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS) as commander, between December 2012 and May 2013. He posted on social media thousands of photos of Earth and videos of himself explaining how things work in zero gravity. His followers could watch him sleeping, brushing his teeth, washing his hands, or preparing "space" snacks in zero gravity, which turned him into a social media phenomenon.
Today, Chris travels the world giving talks about his work. He once said, "Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow. Look at who you want to be, and stan sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you'd be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don't let life randomly kick you into the adult you don't want to become. "
