lyrics

HUMPBACK WHALE

In 1962 when they stopped commercial whaling on the East Coast of Australia it was estimated there were only 300 whales left. When whaling started in the fifties there numbers were in the tens of thousands. Today there numbers are over 3500. They visit the waters inside Fraser Island for a rest during their long annual  journey from Antarctica to the warmer waters Coral Sea where the mothers give birth to their young. They are a great example of a species regenerating. It is outrageous that Japan wants to resume hunting them.

Ah a ah a ah, ah a ah a ah

I swim the southern oceans, traverse the deep blue seas
I play in shallow waters now for all the world to see
I’ve been hunted near extinction, from motorised to sail
From polar caps to tropic seas, I am the humpback whale

Ah a ah a ah, ah a ah a ah

The sound of guns exploding never leaves your mind
The coil of rope unfurling, the piercing crashing grind
The anguished cries of innocents, the harpoon’s claret trail
A thousand generations, I am the humpback whale

Ah a ah a ah, ah a ah a ah

A mother now is playing, breaching in the sun
The calf is swimming with the pod on the southern run
Cameras twirl and focus, shoot this modern tale
I frolic now in Platypus Bay, I am the humpback whale

Ah a ah a ah, ah a ah a ah

I swim the southern oceans, traverse the deep blue seas
I play in shallow waters now for all the world to see
I’ve been hunted near extinction, from motorised to sail
From polar caps to tropic seas, I am the humpback whale

A thousand generations, I am the humpback whale

Noel  Gardner copyright
Corrugated Music