INTERMISSION: 52 KHERTZ WHALE

Typically blue whales call between 15 and 20 hertz, and fin whales call at around 20 hertz, with humpbacks singing at much higher frequencies. From 1992 - 2004, signals recorded by the US navy detected the voice of a lone whale in the north Pacific, calling at 52 hertz.

Its call was not matched with any known species at the time, it was the only evidence of a call at that particular frequency and its migration patterns weren’t correlating with any other whales. 

It was labeled the ‘world’s loneliest whale’, as it was suspected that its unusually pitched voice was inhibiting it from successfully locating others.