The loneliest creature on the planet: scientists solve the mystery of the 52-hertz whale

Deep in the ocean depths are many mysteries that scientists have been trying to solve for decades. One of these mysteries is a lonely call that has been echoing across the Pacific Ocean for many years. Its peculiarity is that it probably belongs to a creature that is completely alone.

American evolutionary biologist Scott Travers of Rutgers University wrote about this in his column for Forbes. According to him, this creature is called a "52-hertz whale" because of the frequency of the sound it makes. This phenomenon has attracted the interest of marine biologists, oceanographers and the scientific community. Forbes writes about it.

The unique call was first recorded in the late 1980s during the monitoring of the Pacific Ocean by US Navy analysts. Scientists were surprised by its frequency - 52 hertz, which is much higher than the sounds made by known cetaceans. Usually, whales communicate in the range of 15 to 25 hertz, because low sounds can spread over hundreds of kilometers. However, the 52-hertz signal was too structured to be considered random ocean noise.

During the research, toothed whales were ruled out, and it was also found that this call does not belong to sperm whales, killer whales, or dolphins, which communicate at much higher frequencies. Various theories have been put forward regarding the nature of this creature. Some scientists suggested that it could be the result of a cross between a blue whale and a fin whale, while others believed that the whale had a vocal anomaly. The possibility that it was a representative of a species unknown to science was not ruled out.

Despite advances in marine research technology, the mystery was never solved. For more than three decades, it has been known only that this call belongs to one individual, not a group of whales. Its migration route is similar to that of blue and pinniped whales. However, the species, age and exact size of the mysterious creature remain unknown.

Scientists fear that the mystery of the "52-Hertz whale" will never be solved. Its estimated life expectancy may range from 70 to 90 years, but there is a possibility that in the late 1980s, U.S. Navy analysts recorded the call of an adult.

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