The Alarm Clock of the Ocean

It is 01:56 in the morning, and I am on watch. Tonight it is particularly dark, due to a light cloud cover, and no moon. Elizabeth's watch is starting at 02:00, so when I hear a shrill and repeating bleep bleep I think that she has set an alarm clock. How thoughtful. Tuxington is very interested in the sound, and we investigate where it comes from. It is not an alarm clock, and it is also not me playing games on my Nexus, as supposed by Elizabeth. Going down into the port hull, where the source of the sound is, Tux and I come up empty.

We continue our investigation outside. Now, in addition to the sound in the water, I can hear many dolphins breathing. We continue to hear the dolphins for 15 minutes, however, we never go to see them. The breathing sounds very powerful, but it is relaxing at the same time. If your “normal” dolphin sounds like a mini car when breathing, these sound like heavy trucks. From the heavy breathing, most likely it would be Orcas or Long Finned Pilot whales. Both are active in the Gibraltar area.

 I can make out at least three different breathing sounds. However, I can't tell whether they are a family of 3, or a huge pack. I hope we get to encounter more of the troop during daylight. We tend to think of dolphins as creatures of the day, but they are also creatures of the night. They still have the sonar working for them, and while they can see us, we cant see them at night.

Picture of the three unidentified whales, in the middle of the night on a cloudy sky, without moon.