Whale seen ‘singing his heart out’ in Caribbean, underwater footage shows

Divers were recently treated to a heartwarming performance by a humpback whale in the Caribbean Sea.

The encounter took place off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, located southeast of the Bahamas, according to an April 19 Facebook post from the Turks and Caicos Islands Whale Project.

Divers observed the whale, a male, floating motionless below the waves and “singing his heart out.”

In a video of the encounter, the whale can be heard belting out a string of high- and low-pitched notes for about one minute before surfacing.

Scientists believe humpback whale songs — while still shrouded in mystery — likely play some sort of role in the animals’ mating behavior, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Adult males are capable of singing “in sessions that last from five minutes to over 24 hours, repeating the same song over and over,” per NOAA.

The singing whale was identified by its distinctive black pectoral fin markings as TCI-847.

Sometimes referred to as Sirius, the whale had previously been documented as far off as the Gulf of Maine, according to Happy Whale, a tracking platform that uses citizen scientist observations.

And, earlier in the day, he had been seen participating in a heat run — a courtship ritual — with a young female.

“He was a busy whale,” the Facebook post said. “All in one day, he was encountered in a heat run, in a pair with a young female, and then singing his heart out on the Turks Bank!”