Can Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘Horses’ attract humpback whales? Experts weigh in on surprising phenomenon
Could Horses be the secret weapon to communicate with whales? Whale-watching experts reveal a bizarre link between Daryl Braithwaite’s classic and humpback whales breaching.
A popular Aussie anthem may have an unexpected audience — humpback whales.
Reports from whale-watching tours on the Sunshine Coast have suggested that Daryl Braithwaite’s hit Horses could be triggering breaching behaviour in these massive marine mammals.
The unusual claim surfaced after KIIS97.3 radio host Robin Bailey went on a whale-watching trip with Sunreef Mooloolaba and was told about a quirky industry secret: the 1991 song seems to prompt whales to breach.
Intrigued by the theory, Bailey turned to a group of experts to investigate the claim further. Among them were Sunreef Mooloolaba staff, including skipper Anneke Van Beuge and operations manager John Fell, who joined Bailey and co-host Kip Wightman on air to discuss a striking pattern they’ve observed this season.
“This became the theme song for the humpback whales of 2023. Every time we played Daryl Braithwaite’s horses, the whales would start to breach,” Mr Fell said.
Ms Van Beuge reviewed footage from hundreds of trips and noticed a consistent trend — whenever Horses was played, the whales were more likely to appear and breach.
“I actually went through all my footage the other week and went through every single successful trip, and Darryl was in the background,” she confirmed when questioned by Bailey.
While the connection might seem coincidental, whale expert Genevieve Williams, who is completing her PhD on humpback whale behaviour, said it’s not entirely implausible.
“They are quite inquisitive animals,” she said.
“They’ll come over and check out people and boats and things like that. To say whether it’s a particular song or whether it’s a particular sound is a bit hard to tell, but they are definitely very curious animals.”
The radio hosts reached out to Braithwaite to discuss the phenomenon.
“That’s quite strange isn’t it? It’s a weird thing, freaky,” Braithwaite said.
The 74-year-old singer offered his own theory on why Horses might resonate with marine mammals, speculating that the song’s use of scale could be the key.
“It may be because it’s in the pentatonic scale of B major. It may have an effect on them because of the pentatonic scale, which is a weird thing in itself, but that’s my theory.”
To test the theory further, Bailey and Wightman will conduct an experiment on September 26 aboard Whale One, a vessel once part of Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo fleet.
The radio duo will play Horses during their whale-watching tour to see if it truly has an effect on whale behaviour.
Unfortunately, Braithwaite won’t be available for a live performance.
“I’ll be away,” Braithwaite said.
Originally published as Can Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘Horses’ attract humpback whales? Experts weigh in on surprising phenomenon
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