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Watching and protecting whales 

THE SHELLTONE WHALE PROJECT TEAM

Discover all the passionate people who work for our organisation! 

Photograph by Pierre Lavagne de Castellan, Research Director of the Shelltone Whale Project.

Pierre Lavagne de Castellan

Marine bioacoustician - Ethologist - Research Director of the Shelltone Whale Project

He met his first humpback whale and listened to its song in Hawaii in 1981. Since then, he has sought to establish contact and initiate inter-species communication with humpback whales, and music soon became an obvious avenue.

He set up the Shelltone Whale Project, an association governed by the law of 1901, and obtained recognition of general interest for his research into underwater acoustics and his environmental aircraft in the marine environment.

Over a period of two years, at the acoustic research laboratory of the Ecole Centrale de Nantes and at Stanford University in California, he developed a wind instrument that enabled him to play music underwater in the same range as humpback whales.

From 2008 to 2012, he tested this instrument between northern California and the Hawaiian archipelago, with humpback whales. These experiments led to the first underwater musical exchanges between humans and cetaceans, and since then he has continued his personal research into communication with large cetaceans.

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Lori Piano

Captain and cetacean guide in Nice

Lori has travelled the world discovering cetaceans for over ten years to learn about them and understand them better.

Pierre Lavagne de Castellan, with whom she shares the same philosophy, taught her the basics of marine acoustics and passed on to her the art of the non-intrusive approach to cetaceans. Pelagos triangle, off Nice on the Côte d'Azur. Visit In addition to her knowledge of cetaceans, she is an excellent navigator.

Photography by Nael Garnier

Nael Garnier

Captain and cetacean guide in Guadeloupe
Nael was born in Baille Argent, the home port of the Shelltone Whale Project Guadeloupe. He is a qualified professional ship's captain.
 
Trained by Pierre Lavagne de Castellan in marine acoustics and a responsible approach to cetaceans, he has been a guide and captain of the Shelltone Whale Project Guadeloupe since 2017.
 
A professional fisherman, he has extensive experience of sailing on the leeward coast of Guadeloupe where we work. His knowledge of the marine environment, fish, marlin, swordfish, tuna and seabirds complements his skills on cetaceans during our observation trips in Guadeloupe.
 
He is a graduate of the French marine protected areas, the "Agoa" cetacean sanctuary.
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Franklin Tarriere

Captain and cetacean guide in Biarritz

Franklin, a Basque-Breton captain, has always let himself be carried along by the ocean. His grandfather passed on to him his deep passion for the sea, and he was already sailing alongside him before he was even old enough to remember.

His knowledge of and respect for cetaceans and his encounter with the Shelltone Whale Project have led him to become involved in their study and protection, at home in the Basque Country.

He was trained by Pierre Lavagne de Castellan and discovered the basics of marine bioacoustics.

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Valérie Gueit

Photographer - Member of the Guadeloupe Research Team

Valerie is the underwater eye of the Shelltone Whale Project. Daughter of the islands she spent her early childhood in New Caledonia, she then lived between Martinique and Guadeloupe. She joined the Shelltone Whale Project research team 6 years ago. Valérie documents through pictures our experience of interspecies communication with cetaceans in Guadeloupe.

Photograph by Léa Lavagne de Castellan

Léa Lavagne de Castellan

Member of the Guadeloupe research team

Léa has developed a great knowledge of cetaceans based on trust and respect. 

A complicity was born between her and the different species we study, especially with the sperm whales she calls her "Gwo Pwasons" ... She follows the births very closely and gives names to the sperm whale babies, which she then regularly finds over the years.

She is able to analyse the behaviour of the different species that populate the waters of the Agoa Sanctuary where we work, she knows how to observe them or interact with them without intrusion, with the utmost respect.

Léa is a qualified guide for the Agoa sanctuary, and is currently working on a yoga programme based on whale care songs.

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Whale songs - 43 min.

Recorded 10 miles off Baille Argent on 26 April 2016. We are convinced that there is a message in this song. Good listening!

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