The music of the sea: the ships whistles.

If you like hearing the sounds of the sea, you're at the right place. The music is an art created by men and women with different assembled notes and with instruments. A piano, a guitar or anything else could be a source to produce some harmonous sounds.

Now, imagine a music from natural notes like the ultrasonics of the whales or the sounds of the waves. Just thinking of this music from the sea. You feel soothed while you don't know how these sounds are the result of the sea life. These sounds are mysterious and more complex we could think it. This is the deep sea life which talks to us. The whales communicates between them to warn about dangers or seduce their future partners. The waves symbolize the violent energy of the marriage of the water and the wind. In other words, our oceans breath like us producing sounds.

What's about the ship's sounds? We cannot compare it to the natural music of the ocean. Like the motoring, the shipping world produces sounds from technical machines called vibrations. There aren't differences but some sounds have a certain meaning in the maritime world. I can't list all the traditions here. If you live near harbours or the coast, you've already heard horns whistles. It's so deep and amazing to see and to hear a ship salutes another one when they meet in a port or at sea. The whistles notes are not the sounds of the ship's motors. It's the voice of the ship. Unlike the horns of the cars, a boat has generally an own voice like us. Some ships play low notes like the QM2 whereas the Disney Magic and her sister-ships play high notes. If you traveled on board a ship, you certainly noticed two ships could communicate between them with their whistles. When a ship leave or arrived in a harbour, you could also hear the ship' voice. The captains use the whistle three times to announce the departs or the arrivals according the rule.

Sometimes, the shippping companies like playing with the voices of their liners or cruisers. The tourists are interested in discovering new attractions on board. The Disney Cruise Line create some horns battles between their ocean cruisers. You play guessing famous songs from the Disney classic cartoons. Other shipowners do the same thing when an event happens. The Cunard Line chose to celebrate the 10th birthday of the QM2 reuniting her younger sister-ships, the MV Queen Victoria and the MV Queen Elizabeth. They played the "happy birthday song" whereas the Queen Mary 2 thanked her. I could write again and again on the ship's whistles but I stop writing for this time. I have other themes on the ship's horns which I'd like talk to you later.