THE SHELLTONE WHALE PROJECT TEAM
Discover all the passionate people who work for our organisation!
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.
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.
André Besseyrias
Captain and cetacean guide in Guadeloupe
André has a passion for nature and sailing, and from a very early age he was influenced by tales of marine and underwater adventure such as Le monde du silence by Captain Cousteau, Laisser les vivre by Christian Zuber, Tamata et l'alliance by Bernard Moitessier...
These stories instilled in him a respect for the animal world and a love of nature.
He explored nature in a variety of ways, on land in the mountains, at sea with ocean sailing and scuba diving, and underground with caving.
Nature made him want to take to the open seas and, with his wife, they bought a sailing boat and set off for a year's sailing in the Caribbean to discover this magnificent region, from Puerto Rico to Grenada.
Meeting Pierre Lavagne from Castellan and Shelltone Whale Project in Guadeloupe was the catalyst for his desire to get more involved in saving the oceans.
On his return to mainland France, he will spend several months working for WIND OF THE OCEAN, a charity that works to raise awareness and clean up the oceans, particularly from plastic waste.
And today he is joining Shelltone Whale Project Guadeloupe as a ship's captain.
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.
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.
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.
