Roger Payne

Roger Searle Payne (January 29, 1935 – June 10, 2023) was an American biologist and environmentalist famous for his 1967 discovery (with Scott McVay) of whale song among humpback whales. Payne later became an important figure in the worldwide campaign to end commercial whaling.

Early life Payne was born on January 29, 1935, in Manhattan, New York City, to Elizabeth (née Searle) and Edward Benedict Payne. His mother was a music teacher and his father an electrical engineer. Payne graduated from Horace Mann School in 1952. He later received his BA degree at Harvard University and his Ph.D. at Cornell University.

Payne described the whale songs as "exuberant, uninterrupted rivers of sound" with long, repeated "themes", each song lasting up to 30 minutes and sung by an entire group of male humpbacks at once. The songs would be varied slightly between each breeding season, with a few new phrases added on and a few others dropped. He identified these sounds as whales singing to one another. Payne was also the first to suggest fin whales and blue whales can communicate with sound across whole oceans, a theory since confirmed. In 1975 a second LP was released, and in 1987 Payne collaborated with musician Paul Winter in combining whalesong with human music.

Whale recordings by Frank Watlington (with commentary by Payne) were released on a flexi disc soundsheet inside the January 1979 National Geographic magazine. This issue, at 10.5 million copies, became the largest single press run of any record at the time. In addition to whale recordings Payne also published books and worked with film crews on many television documentary productions and on the IMAX movie Whales: An Unforgettable Journey. From 2020, Payne served as principal advisor to Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), a TED Audacious Project and nonprofit, interdisciplinary scientific and conservation initiative. As a member of Friends of Lolita, Inc. (aka Friends of Toki), a non–profit corporation, one of Payne's last involvements was in supporting the planned move of the captive orca Lolita from the Miami Seaquarium to a sanctuary in the Salish Sea.

Personal life From 1960 to 1985 Payne was married to whale and elephant researcher Katharine Payne, who performed similar research on the vocalizations of elephants and humpbacks. The couple had four children.

Five days before his death, Payne published an essay in Time calling for a new conservation movement. He wrote, "As my time runs out, I am possessed with the hope that humans worldwide are smart enough and adaptable enough to put the saving of other species where it belongs: at the top of the list of our most important jobs. I believe that science can help us survive our folly." Also in 1970 composer Alan Hovhaness composed And God Created Great Whales, the score for which contains excerpts from Payne's recordings In 1977 Roger Payne's recordings of humpback whales were included in the Voyager Golden Record carried aboard the Voyager program spacecraft, the first human artifacts to leave the Solar System. Singer Kate Bush's debut album The Kick Inside in 1978 features a portion of 'slowed-down solo whale' (from Songs of the Humpback Whale) as an intro to the opening track "Moving". Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) features Payne's recordings, in a plot about rescuing humpback whales from extinction by moving a breeding pair from 1986 to 300 years in the future. In 2010, the band Glass Wave included Payne's whale recordings in the first track ("Balena") and last track ("Moby Dick") of their album.

Works Producer, Songs of the Humpback Whale, a 1970 LP (and later CD) Producer, Deep Voices, a 1977 LP of more humpback songs as well as blue and fin whales Co-producer, Whales Alive, a 1987 LP collaboration with musicians Paul Winter and Paul Halley Host, In the Company of Whales, a 1991 television documentary for The Discovery Channel Author, Among Whales, a 1995 book Host, Finite Oceans, a 1995 television documentary Co-writer/co-director, Whales: An Unforgettable Journey, a 1997 IMAX film

Discography

Albums TitleDetailsUS Certification(s)Songs of the Humpback WhaleReleased in August 1970 by CRM Records, Capitol Records, Windham Hill Records, & BGO Records176 US: 2x PlatinumDeep Voices - The Second Whale RecordReleased in 1977 by Capitol Records—