Why is 52 Hz whale mysterious and unseen?

  • Thread starter Thread starter snorkack
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The 52-hertz whale, known for its unique vocalization at 52 Hz, has been heard since 1989 but has never been visually confirmed. This whale, potentially a new species, emits calls at a frequency higher than blue and fin whales, which typically vocalize at lower frequencies. Despite regular detection of its calls across the North Pacific Ocean, including areas from the Aleutian Islands to the California coast, the whale remains elusive. Its migration patterns suggest a seasonal movement influenced by food availability, similar to other baleen whales. Hydrophones have successfully picked up its calls, but challenges in locating the whale arise from its vast range and the nature of its vocalizations. Additionally, sporadic recordings of a second whale at the same frequency have been noted since 2010, raising questions about the species' social behavior and communication.
snorkack
Messages
2,388
Reaction score
536
It has been heard for 35 years, since 1989, and has attracted a lot of interest. Why has it never been seen?
How often does the 52 Hz whale vocalize?
When it does, how, and how fast, do hydrophones resolve its whereabouts?
When a ship or a few sail Pacific specifically listening to the 52 Hz whale and going to the region where it was or seemed to be going to, what stops them from reaching the sight of it?
 
Biology news on Phys.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52-hertz_whale

The 52-hertz whale, colloquially referred to as 52 Blue, is an individual whale of unidentified species that calls at the unusual frequency of 52 hertz. This pitch is at a higher frequency than that of the other whale species with migration patterns most closely resembling the 52-hertz whale's[1] – the blue whale (10 to 39 Hz)[2] and the fin whale (20 Hz).[1] Its call has been detected regularly in many locations since the late 1980s and appears to be the only individual emitting a whale call at this frequency. However, the whale itself has never been sighted; it has only been heard via hydrophones. It has been described as the "world's loneliest whale", though potential recordings of a second 52-hertz whale, heard elsewhere at the same time, have been sporadically found since 2010.[3][4]

The 52-hertz whale has been tracked mainly in the North Pacific Ocean, following a migration pattern similar to that of blue and fin whales.

General Locations:
  • It has been detected moving from the Aleutian Islands in the north, down toward the California coast in the south.
  • The whale’s path suggests a seasonal migration, likely influenced by food availability, similar to other baleen whales.
  • Recordings have been captured across a broad range of the Pacific, but its exact locations and routes are not entirely known.
 
Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S. According to articles in the Los Angeles Times, "Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S.", and "Kissing bugs bring deadly disease to California". LA Times requires a subscription. Related article -...
I am reading Nicholas Wade's book A Troublesome Inheritance. Please let's not make this thread a critique about the merits or demerits of the book. This thread is my attempt to understanding the evidence that Natural Selection in the human genome was recent and regional. On Page 103 of A Troublesome Inheritance, Wade writes the following: "The regional nature of selection was first made evident in a genomewide scan undertaken by Jonathan Pritchard, a population geneticist at the...
Back
Top