Roger Searle Payne (January 29, 1935 – June 10, 2023) was an American biologist and environmentalist famous for his 1967 discovery (with Scott McVay) of whale song among humpback whales. Payne's recordings were released in 1970 as an LP called Songs of the Humpback Whale (still the best-selling nature sound record of all time) which helped to gain momentum for the Save the Whales movement seeking to end commercial whaling, which at the time was pushing many species dangerously close to extinction. Commercial whaling was finally banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Payne authored or co-authored dozens of scientific papers, gave hundreds of lectures, made countless television programmes and films, and led 100 oceanic expeditions. ~ Wikipedia & The Guardian