The Loneliest Whale in the World, he keeps "saying 'Hey, I'm out here,'" but "no other whale is answering."
He is alone voice crying out for love in the wilderness. For years he has roamed singing unrequited songs of yearning, searching for a soul to share his solitary world. His plaintive love songs have been heard by many yet he has never been seen. He is the loneliest whale in the world. But although he swims in waters that are populated by thousands of other whales no female ever responds.
The New York Times wrote an article about the loneliest whale in the world. Scientists have been tracking him since 1992 and they discovered the problem: He isn’t like any other baleen whale. Unlike all other whales, he doesn’t have friends. He doesn’t have a family. he doesn’t belong to any tribe, pack or gang. He doesn’t have a lover. He never had one. His songs come in groups of two to six calls, lasting for five to six seconds each. But his voice is unlike any other baleen whale. It is unique—while the rest of his kind communicate between 12 and 25hz, he sings at 52hz.
Not only does 52 Hertz sing at a much higher frequency, but his calls are also shorter and more frequent than those of other whales. It's as if he speaks his own language-- a language of one. Even stranger, 52 Hertz does not follow the known migration route of any extant baleen whale species. He sings alone and travels alone.
He cries out in long, low moans, his musical mating calls ringing for hours through the darkness of the deepest seas. His strong voice carries for miles through the briny, broadcasting a wide repertory of heartfelt tunes.
But although he swims in waters that are populated by thousands of other whales no female ever responds because his voice is unusually high for a whale - about 52 Hertz - which is what researchers have named him.
Scientists are not even certain what type of whale he is or whether he might be an unknown species on a futile quest for an equally elusive mate. His calls are shorter but more frequent than other whales, as if he speaks a language that is all his own.
You see, that’s precisely the problem. No other whales can hear him. Every one of hisdesperate calls to communicate remains unanswered. Each cry ignored. And, with every lonely song, she becomes sadder and more frustrated, her notes going deeper in despair as the years go by. Just imagine that massive mammal, floating alone and singing—too big to connect with any of the beings it passes, feeling paradoxically small in the vast stretches of empty, open ocean.
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