The 52-Hertz Whale
Somewhere in the North Pacific, a whale has been singing for decades at a pitch no other whale uses.
What was reported
In 1989, US Navy microphones built to track submarines picked up a whale song at about 52 hertz. That's a much higher pitch than blue whales or fin whales, the species whose songs are closest to it. Researchers tracked the same voice each season for years as it moved through the North Pacific.
The whale has never been seen, and nobody knows what species it is. A 2004 scientific paper on the calls caught the public imagination, and it became known as 'the loneliest whale in the world'.
Explanations offered
Scientists think it is a real whale, perhaps a hybrid of two species or an animal with an unusual voice. Its song has deepened slightly over the years, and some researchers think similar calls have been heard at more than one place at a time. Whether other whales can hear and answer it is unknown.
- When
- Heard since 1989
- Where
- North Pacific Ocean
- Witnesses
- US Navy underwater microphones; ocean researchers
- Status
- Unidentified
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