Roger Payne, the scientist who spurred a worldwide environmental conservation movement with his discovery that whales could sing, has died. He was 88.
Payne made the discovery in 1967 during a research trip to Bermuda in which a Navy engineer provided him with a recording of curious underwater sounds documented while listening for Russian submarines. Payne identified the tones as songs whales sing to one another.
He saw the discovery of whale song as a chance to cultivate interest in saving the giant animals, who were disappearing from the planet. Payne went on to produce the album “Songs of the Humpback Whale” in 1970. It was a surprise hit and galvanized a global movement to end the practice of commercial whale hunting.
Many anti-war protesters of the day took on saving animals and the environment as a new cause, and the words “save the whales” became ubiquitous on tote bags and bumper stickers.