MP, thanks for that rundown from 6 months ago.
I've had the 1st Roger Payne CD for a couple decades, and recall first hearing its first track on a flexidisc in an issue of National Geographic in 1979. Oh look, 8 year old me can relive the experience:
I remember reading somewhere that, likely due to increased manmade noise, humpback whale songs were slowly losing the complexity that they had in the 60s, and was greatly saddened.
Since there's a precedent for other marine mammals, I think everyone should know about the Weddell seal recording on Douglas Quin's Antarctica (1998):
― Sanpaku, Monday, 16 November 2015 05:07 (eight years ago) link