When meeting later, Hopkins tells Warner Sr. be able to control whales with an implant in their brain and that heroin could be shipped between beaches inside their mouth.
Both later enter its mouth to ship heroin and Hopkins reveals to have been forced to use his technology to transform sharks into missiles and no longer caring about illegal activities like smuggling drugs.
Paul Di Filippo wrote in the Locus Magazine, calls the short story "a Ruckeresque or Scalzian tale about a crime boss, a mad scientist, and a cybernetic whale", which is "sprightly and fun.
"[4] Publishers Weekly wrote in a review of the entire collection A View from the Stars, that its fiction entries "may be more down-to-earth, but they’re unafraid to ask big questions, including 'What is the purpose of the universe?'.
"[5] Eamonn Murphy wrote on SF Crowsnest: "I like the omniscient author point of view about Whale Song on page 17, which was science poetry, but, overall, this story struck me as black humour.