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There’s a whale – some scientists think it’s a blue whale – that’s heard every year as it passes through the Northeast Pacific Ocean, near Puget Sound. Its song is very much like that of other blue whales, except for one difference: it sings at a frequency of 52 hertz, about the same level as the lowest note you can play on a tuba. Most blue whales sing in the range of 10-40 hertz, the least discernible of rumbles at the bottom range of human hearing.

The other difference between this whale and other blue whales? It’s always alone. In the 13 years that scientists have been tracking its song, it’s never been heard with other whales. Scientists think that because it sings at such a high frequency, other whales can’t hear it. It swims the deep ocean, calling high, singing to no one, always reaching out.

I’ve been thinking a lot about whales this month, as I approach the release of my first novel, Button Hill, on April 1st. Orca Book Publishers is publishing it (thank you Orca!!). The novel is one way I can sing my song, to tell a story I know to tell. My hope for this website is that it will help you and I to hear each other – to connect in a way that’s good, for you and for me.

I’m passionate about reading stories and writing them too. I love spreading my passion for reading and writing to other people.  My heart races when I discover something strange, unexpected, unexplainable. Things of wonder. Heartbreaking things.  I’ve even been some things of wonder and heartbreak myself: a poet and a garbage picker, a teacher and a writer, a husband and a father.  I want to share some of the things I’m passionate about with you on this blog (okay, maybe not the garbage picking though).

But this blog can be a conversation. So tell me – what do you want to see here? What are you wondering about? Make a comment and let me know – I’d like to include some of your ideas here too if I can!

I hope to hear from you soon-

Michael

P.S.
You can hear the 52 Hertz whale’s song, and compare it to other whale songs, here.

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