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鈥淢Y GOD, it repeats!鈥� Scott McVay was gazing at sonograms of whale sound spread across his living room floor. It was 1967, and researcher McVay and his wife were the first to realise that the humpback鈥檚 vocalisation is not random, but highly structured, built of smaller and larger segments that repeat again and again, like a song.

McVay and fellow researcher published the findings in a 1971 . A year earlier, they had released of the recordings. Entitled Songs of the Humpback Whale, it sold more than 30 million copies, sparking a widespread interest in whales and inspiring early conservation efforts. A review in Rolling Stone began, 鈥淭his is a good record, dig?鈥�

Now wants 鈥渢o bring whale song back into the human world again鈥�. In , Rothenberg, a musician and professor of philosophy at the in Newark, explores whale/human interactions, bringing together hard science and folk history in a sometimes exhilarating, sometimes incongruent mix. The book, which comes with a CD of whale/human musical arrangements, is both a plea for improved conservation and a kind of cetacean musicology. Primarily, though, it鈥檚 an account of Rothenberg鈥檚 personal quest to jam with whales.

Rothenberg travels the world to meet a diverse cast of characters from whom he seeks help with his mission. Among them are prominent whale researcher of Cornell University; the fascinating Rauno Lauhakangas, a Finnish physicist and beluga researcher; and eccentrics like , who similarly try to connect with other species through music.

Inter-species communication is an intriguing area of research, and it makes sense that music might be the right channel for it. Only recently have scientists discovered that whales have culture: like human music, whale song changes over time, and different groups sing different songs. Sometimes one group鈥檚 song becomes popular and is picked up by another.

鈥淚s music the channel for inter-species communication?鈥�

Rothenberg is passionate and sincere, and there is something glorious about his quest. But the results of his inter-species jam sessions are virtually nil. Though he ventures into the waves many times to play his clarinet to the enormous creatures, not once does he hear anything that can definitively be called a response.

Rothenberg chafes at the constraints of the scientific method, and too often caricatures scientists as afraid to get 鈥渢oo personal and artistic鈥�. To his credit, he honestly reports scientists鈥� criticism of his mission. The problem is that the scientists are wholly convincing, including the New Zealand engineer who thinks Rothenberg should stay away from the whales. 鈥淭he only reason to fuck with something is if you have a well-worked-out hypothesis, and a good measurement technique,鈥� he says. In contrast, those who endorse Rothenberg鈥檚 project include a researcher who creates electrical field machines to 鈥渃ure鈥� cancer, and a boatload of seekers who want to get so close to their beloved whales that they flout the laws designed to protect them.

Endangered species 鈥� Learn more about the conservation battle in our comprehensive special report.

Evolution 鈥� Learn more about the struggle to survive in our comprehensive special report.