In 1989, when the Cold War was beginning to wind down, the U.S. Navy detected a 52Hz call using hydrophones to monitor enemy submarines. They discovered that it was a loud, sad moan from a whale. Whales use their calls to communicate with each other, navigate, and find food, but this call was unusual.
The average blue whale vocalizes at frequencies between 10 and 40 Hz. A fin whale vocalizes at 20Hz, identical to humpback whales. But this call was at 52Hz, which hadn’t been recorded from any species before. Scientists were able to get an idea of the whale’s migration patterns, which resembled those of the blue whale. However, the seasons in which the movements took place resembled those of fin whales. It has continued doing this yearly, with only some variations. But despite its now-familiar call, the 52Hz whale continues to evade scientists.
The 52Hz whale is a rare hybrid, but a similar call was heard coming from a blue-fin whale at Dana Point, California, in 2021. This means that the 52Hz whale is not alone. Scientists determined that the 52Hz whale is likely a male because males are typically the ones to call out to females to attract them.
Since it is not the only hybrid blue-fin whale, why is it the only one that calls at 52Hz? Why haven’t any other whales answered him? According to Cornell University researcher Christopher Clark, “Blue whales, fin whales, and humpback whales: all these whales can hear this guy; they’re not deaf. He’s just odd.” No one has answered him because they might not understand what he is trying to say, as his frequency is quite unusual.
In the 2000s, the calls stopped, and scientists believed that he was dead. Some continued to spot him, and filmmaker Joshua Zeman produced a documentary exploring his quest to find him. He called it The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52. However, they were unable to identify him. Joshua Zeman even speculated that the whale could be suffering from loneliness, as no animals seemed to return his calls. The idea that animals can share the feeling of loneliness with humans is something that I believe connects us all.
