Eerie sound of unknown underwater creature that’s baffled scientists for decades

The ocean’s a pretty lonely place really. Miles and miles of water without a soul in sight.

Well, from above the surface anyway, as we know there’s all kinds of fish and life down under the water.

But there’s so much we don’t know about the ocean, as the majority of it remains unexplored.

And somewhere out there, is the ‘world’s loneliest whale’. Yeah, sounds like a kid’s book, right?

The 52-hertz whale has baffled scientists for decades and has never actually been seen.

Also nicknamed 52 Blue, the whale has only ever been heard via hydrophones and is known for having an unusual call.

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As its name suggests, this mysterious whale calls at a unique frequency of 52 hertz (Hz) - higher than that of whale species with migration patterns it most closely matches.

The blue whale calls at a frequency between 10 to 39 Hz and the fin whale at around 20 Hz. So, it’s said that this lonely underwater creature essentially has the equivalent call of talking like Mickey Mouse.

This unusual call of the 52 Blue has been detected often in a variety of locations since all the way back in the late 80s and scientists reckon it is just one whale that’s making the sound.

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There have been ‘potential’ recordings of another 52-hertz whale in a different place at the same time since 2010 but it seems like it’s a lonely old life for 52 Blue.

Recordings of this unknown creature shared online are pretty eerie, as it swims around the ocean, never to be seen and just making this high frequency call.

The lonely whale tends to be detected in the Pacific Ocean each year and is suspected to travel as far north as the Asleutian and Kodiak Islands and then as far south as the California coast.

52 Blue has inspired various film and music works, with K Pop band BTS releasing ‘Whalien 52’ in 2015 about a lonely whale that ‘can never reach someone else, no matter how hard it shouts’.

But not all experts reckon it’s ‘lonely’.

Whale communication expert Christopher Clark told the BBC in 2015: “Blue whales, fin whales and humpback whales: all these whales can hear this guy; they’re not deaf. He’s just odd.”

Poor guy.

There’s also the theory that the passing of commercial shipping meant whales increased the frequency of their calls so they could be heard above all that noise.

Either way, 52 Blue has yet to be seen.

Topics: Science, Environment, Animals

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_