They may not be especially interested in music but perhaps are
interested/curious about sounds.
Some years ago I paddled a kayak from Lochinver to Ullapool, NW Scotland over
two days.
The whole purpose of the trip was to see dolphins from my canoe.
The weather conditions on both days were rather unusual, no wind whatsoever,
absolutely flat calm slick smooth sea and very warm.
Anything on or breaking the surface was very obvious, I spent most of the two
days paddling past Atlantic grey seals basking motionless in the sunshine, from
a distance they resembled railway sleepers.
I was continuously on the lookout for dolphins.
Towards the end of the second day time was running out, all I had seen (and
distinctly heard) were a pair of pilot whales way off in the distance as they
came up to breath. I was feeling a little disappointed.
Eventually I took notice of a voice in my head urging me to sing something as I
had a vague notion that dolphins might respond to sound.
After a long internal struggle I very self-consciously started to chant
something and in no more than a few seconds, before I had even finished the
first line, a pod of porpoise broke the surface about 50 yards ahead.
I was astonished, stopped singing and they quickly vanished below the surface.
A few mins later I paddled over the place where they had been as the water was
still settling.
For 15 mins or so I was elated.
Then the internal voice began to urge me to try it again, at first I was very
reluctant, I didn't want failure to spoil the magic of the occasion.
So, eventually, I started singing again, exactly the same thing happened. This
time I continued singing and in a few minutes I was surrounded by probably well
over a hundred porpoise as pod after pod broke the surface in distinct groups
all around me.
I just sat and watched the spectacle for perhaps 20 mins until I had to leave
to make a rendezvous at Ullapool, I paddled through them and away, leaving them
gamboling about behind me.
Ever since I have wondered about the event, how they appeared almost instantly
in such large numbers from a flat, calm and apparently empty sea, why appear at
all? Was it, as seems likely, the sound of my voice that precipitated the
event?
I don't know the answers, it just happened and was a wonderful experience.
Thanks, Ross
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