Note: Click the photo if you view this from Steemit.com to listen to the call of the world's loneliest whale
The sound you just heard belongs to a mysterious creature known as the 52-hertz whale. lt has been recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [public domain,1] in the northeast Pacific and sped up ten times, raising the pitch to 520 Hz.
It is believed to belong to a single individual, the species of which has yet to be identified as it has a much higher frequency than the "normal" whales do. For example, blue whales have a pitch ranging from 10 to 39 Hz while fin whales have a pitch of about 20 Hz. The call is also shorter and more frequent.
The sound was first detected in 1989, then again in 1990 and 1991 and every year since 2014. It appears to be unrelated to the presence or movement of other whales. The call seems to follow a migration pattern similar to that of blue whales, but the timing is more like that of fin whales.
So, what's the deal with this mysterious whale? One theory is that it's a one of a kind blue whale/fin-whale hybrid. Or maybe a serious malformed individual. Others have suggested that it may be a deaf whale that just hasn't learned to speak properly.
Other than the strange pitch, the whale seems to be in good health since it has survived for so long. And that's pretty much all we know about the creature. A mysterious whale, swimming in the deep blue, with a call that will never be answered...
Let me close today's post with the touching words of saxophone player and composer Colin Stetson's, whose "Part of Me Apart From You" song was inspired by the story of this lonely whale:
"This whale is alone in a large body of water, swimming, singing its song, calling for a likeness it will never find. When I play this song, I can't help but think about this whale, who right at this very minute is singing alone."
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