The oceanic observation vessel rolls on the swell of the high seas. A researcher in foul-weather gear walks carefully along the deck from the stern toward a cabin hatchway. The sky is gray, though a storm has not yet developed. The man's beard and glasses are covered with droplets of spray.

Below decks, the laboratory room is equipped with the latest holographic sonar and communications equipment. Radio gear and hydrophones are connected to graphical computer workstations. The workstations are connected the Internet via direct two-way satellite links.

The researcher shakes off the his coat and hat and stows them in a locker. He gets right back to work.

From studies done to date, it is known that large whales can communicate with each other over tremendous distances -- thousands of miles -- half a world away.

Individuals tagged with radio transmitters relay information through satellite links. The equipment on this ship does real-time three- dimensional phase correlation of VLF -- Very Low-Frequency acoustical wavefronts in the water. From this, the song can be connected to the individual.

The computers integrate and analyze all the information. Screens show global topographic maps of the oceans in full 3-D. In the computer displays, one can explore the canyons of ocean deep. Acoustical sonar events are overlaid on these maps in true three dimensions, in real-time. The mournful-sounding wails of whale-songs emanate from speakers in the lab.

What do whales talk about? It is a philosophical question. To begin to answer, one has to think about the evolution of the species in their native environment.

Water is 1000 times more dense than air. Listening to sound in water is a sensory experience 1000 times more acute than listening to sound in air.

We know that bats can echolocate insects in three full dimensions, in full flight with only two ears. Dolphins have as many as eight distinct audio-sensory organs in their heads -- and the acoustical coupling between the water and their flesh is practically one-to-one.

Audio whale-vision is holographic. It developed over millions of years for seeking food in the oceans. The communication which developed later is also three-dimensionally holographic.

What do whales talk about? We may never exactly know the answer, because the three-dimensional sounds they form map to the particular physiology of whales' auditory organs. You have to have a whale's body and brain in order to understand the whales' language.

The whales' oral history is passed through three-dimensional acoustical sensations which resonate with their being.

But correlation's can be made. Patterns of conversation occur in response to geological and weather events. They are connected to the water. The water is connected to the earth and atmosphere. The whales are connected to each other. The earth groans, roars and rumbles. And the whales sing in response.

Copyright 2000 Stewart Dickson and Rebecka Dickson