You must have heard the legend about it.
In the vast sea, an whale makes a 52 Hz scream, and the frequency is much higher than that of a normal whale.
In the eyes of my compatriots, it is like a strange madman, shouting at the top of his lungs that no one can understand.
It is called by the media: the loneliest whale in the world.
But is there really such a whale in the world?
An exploration relay spanning 30 years, which is launched:
"The Loneliest Whale: Looking for 52"
A certain era in the last century.
Recently, the Pacific Ocean seems to be not peaceful.
From time to time, strange screams came from the bottom of the sea, which was a strange and low-frequency long moan.
Ethereal, ethereal, terrifying, causing panic.
According to the truth, the sound at the bottom of the sea is not very loud and easy to be heard.
But now it is the Cold War period.
In order to surpass the Soviet Union, the United States installed hydrophone on the seabed to listen to the Soviet Union submarine .
The US Navy takes 24-hour shifts day and night to ensure that people are repeatedly monitoring every minute and every second.
So, this terrifying call floated out of the seabed and jumped to the human eyes.
The US Navy was puzzled by this strange source of sound. Is
a new Soviet submarine or an unknown undersea monster?
Soon, the answer was revealed by a biologist.
Bill Watkins (hereinafter referred to as "Dr. Watkins") speculates that this sound source comes from a whale.
The huge rock pressing on everyone's heart seems to be able to be put down.
But the problem is that the vocal frequency of ordinary whales must not exceed 40 Hz.
The strange sound source captured in this segment is 52 Hz, which is much higher than that of normal whales.
Is it really a whale?
The biological team led by Dr. Watkins launched a 12-year tracking.
Until 2004, Dr. Watskins died, and the exploration came to an abrupt end. After the team members published relevant reports, the whale quickly set off an online carnival.
It is called by the media: the loneliest whale in the world.
Some people affectionately call it: 52.
Just imagine, the lonely whale in the confused sea is mysterious but romantic.
It swims alone in the ocean, walking a different migration route from its companions.
It spent its entire life looking for similar people, singing, swimming, and shouting, but never got a single response.
Isn’t this a true portrayal of every lonely soul in the noisy society in the contemporary world?
Countless artists use it as a model to create wonderful works, songs, paintings, novels...
Among the people, a director named Joshua Zeman (hereinafter referred to as "Zeman") inexplicably developed a sense of mission.
He felt a power in the dark, guiding him to chase the whale.
But what's unique is.
He did not continue to dig out the image of whale, but instead tried to collide with scientific rationality.
Countless people were inspired by this lonely whale.
But when this mysterious legend faces rigorous science, where should we go?
Is it really a whale?
Is it still alive?
Can it perceive the so-called emotions of human beings?
And as the search journey unfolds, they tore open a secret that is closely related to humans...
Documentary "The Loneliest Whale: Looking for 52" was released in the United States in 2021.
The film not only tells the story of human directors looking for "52 Hz whales", but also explores the ways of getting along with humans and whales, and the nature represented by whales.
Netizen comments: The moment you see the magnificent ocean and the huge whale, your heart will still be shocked.
Someone else said: When we understand animals, we are actually understanding ourselves better.
Looking for a whale in the vast ocean is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Zeman spent a year trying to convince the US Navy to draw up the top secret records of that year to track the trajectory of 52 Hz.
The result can be imagined, he was ruthlessly rejected.
Then, with the help of underwater volcano research expert Robert Diak, he obtained an authorized monitoring data.
Just, it is nothing different to think that it is a fantasy to compare the position of 52 in more than 60,000 records.
Everything points in one direction: go to sea.
Only by personally stepping on this vast and mysterious ocean can you find the answer.
Finally, after crowdfunding funds for overseas trips, he embarked on the journey of overseas trip with a team of scientists.
When you stare at the sea, you are staring at a huge mystery.
The vast ocean is all-encompassing, and humanity is just a drop in the ocean.
But whales, the largest existing animal known in the world, were defeated in the fight against humans.
What we are talking about is not the indomitable fighting spirit praised in Hemingway "The Old Man and the Sea".
is not a story of a determined warrior fighting in the bay under the strong wind and huge waves.
Instead, technology crushes and tramples on nature.
is a bombing shell;
is a large javelin with barbs, explosives, and cables;
is a modern thousand-ton whaling ship that can turn whales into a pile of whale oil and whale meat products in just 45 minutes...
9th century, whale oil ignited industrial revolution .
Even the discovery of oil failed to rescue the whale from the human claws.
People make the whales caught into various products and are deeply loved...
The whale's teeth are made into chess and piano keys;
The bones of whales and baleen are made into tight underwear...
The whaling industry in the United States is booming, and behind it is the carnival and sought after by countless people.
Not to mention, the world's largest whaling and whale eating country, Japan.
In the south of Tokyo, there is a village near the Pacific Ocean, which is one of the four major whaling bases in Japan.
Locals are skilled in whaling and slaughtering whales, and whale meat is one of the staple foods of locals.
To this day, this kind of whaling activity continues...
Image source network
It can be said that for a long time, what we gave whales was not protection or awe, but persecution...
Until 1970.
A move by biologist Roger Payne reversed the situation.
He recorded the whale's songs into a record and made it public.
This record became a hit. It was not only the platinum record of that year, but also the highest-selling natural record in history.
Biologist Roger Payne
The reason why humans are humans is because of the most precious emotions.
When we hear the singing of whales, the world changes.
Their beautiful and ethereal voices are like crying and complaining, captivating, and pulling you into the mysterious and vast underwater world in one second.
Human beings suddenly realized: a whale is not an object, but a living life.
Solo Whale Music: Chillpill - Whale Sounds
Distant WhaleMusic: Chillpill - Whale Sounds
We can't ignore the harm caused by whales.
People marched and protested against whaling.
More and more people are investing in the protection of cetacean .
This directly promoted the United Nations Conference on Human Environment, calling for a ban on 10-year commercial whaling in 1972.
This world-wide "save whales" campaign is a huge turning point in the public's awareness of whales.
For a long time, we thought that fusiform cells related to self-awareness only exist in the brains of humans and other apes .
It was not until later that whales also had spindle cells.
In other words, they are very likely to be like humans, they will love, hate, and heartbroken...
Humans are completely social animals, and so are whales, and they also have strong social and emotional needs.
It is in this context that we have such a deep resonance with 52, who is trapped in a dilemma of loneliness...
But 52, are we really lonely?
When the researchers observed the data, they captured two groups of 52 Hz calls.
Magically, one group appears in Los Angeles, and the other group appears in San Diego , these two seas are apart in a full 90 miles apart.
, and the time is only 10 minutes short, which is in line with the law of whale communication.
So the question is, who are you communicating with?
This also shows that there is not only a 52 Hz whale in this vast ocean.
In terms of data, there are at least 2 items, or even more!
The truth is that it is not lonely!
Unfortunately, they did not see 52 with their own eyes on this journey.
Just as they were about to catch the whale group that was being pursued with painstakingly, a cargo ship roared by, instantly destroying the underwater monitoring system.
target, missed.
Ironically, in this journey of exploration, the biggest obstacle is not the mysterious sea, but the ordinary cargo ship.
traces the root of the source, from humans.
Take the California coast as an example, it is the busiest shipping center in the United States.
000 ships sailed on the sea and contracted nearly half of the imported goods.
Every piece of clothing people wear and every bite of food they eat is continuously transported from all over the world through this sea area.
Everyone has long been accustomed to it.
But the whale that is ignored by humans, the indigenous people in this sea area seem to be difficult to get used to.
Just imagine, you are a whale swimming in the ocean.
Your eyes are very small, you can only barely see a distance of more than ten meters, and you can't even see your own body completely.
Fortunately, you have very sensitive listening.
You can hear the sound of waves slapping on the left, marking the existence of the coastline.
You can also hear similar sounds hundreds of miles away, knowing where there is danger and where there is food.
You rely on your voice to feel the ocean. Similarly, you lit up the entire ocean with your loud and moving singing.
But I don’t know when it started, the seabed is filled with noises.
Undersea oil exploration, seismic air gun array, giant wheel rolling propeller ...
They are deafening, covering up the voices of your companions, disturbing you from dizziness.
The distance you can hear similar sounds has shrunk by 2/3.
You have to increase the volume or change the frequency so that your companions can hear your voice...
Documentary "Year of Change of Earth" mentioned.
When the outbreak occurred, southeastern Alaska, the United States canceled cruise ships, and the underwater became 25 times quieter, and whales began to communicate more frequently and in-depth.
Scientists analyzed: It's like you want to chat with friends, but the crowded bar is too noisy, you won't talk a lot, and you have to shout when you talk. If you are in a quiet cafe, you can have deeper, meaningful conversations.
And what is even more surprising is that humpback whale mothers can leave their children with confidence and go to a farther place to prey.
Because it knows that if the puppy needs it, it can hear the call at any time.
But the isolation will not last, the cruise ship will not be permanently cancelled, and the noise will not be eliminated forever...
The latest research shows that in order to avoid the same frequency as artificial noise, the blue whale is gradually changing its own vocal frequency.
At the same time, The North Pacific lost some "unspoken"...
Quoting the British " Guardian " words: When we are worried about the loneliest whales in the world, thousands of cargo ships are creating an ocean full of lonely whales...
Just recently, foreign media reported a heartbreaking thing.
Within one month, two large-scale whales stranded incidents occurred in the same Pacific Island link, and a total of nearly 500 whales died one after another.
The same thing is not uncommon.
In July 2020, 11 pilot whales stranded on the beach in Brejua, Indonesia;
In February 2022, a deep-sea whale died near the coast of Greece , and had been stranded twice before;
In September 2020, about 270 whales were in Tas, Australia The shallow beach of Mania is stranded, hundreds of small whales wailing around their mothers, and the rotten corpses attract bloodthirsty sharks...
At present, the reasons for whales are stranded are inconclusive. One of the important hypotheses believes that artificial water noise is to blame:
The noise of water body causes hearing damage to the whale, and the echo positioning system fails, which may lose its direction and be collectively washed away by the Shanghai beach.
Photo source network
In the end, you will find that while humans are constantly giving the concept of "52 Hz whale", its compatriots are suffering from the sequelae brought by human activities.
Perhaps 52 Hz whales are not lonely, but the noise created by humans blocks their communication and brings them more loneliness...
In order to make their voices heard, they scream louder in despair.
Reference:
Central Radio Network丨Research: Increased noise in the ocean may cause whales to vocalize frequency to decrease
Translation Network丨Nearly 500 whales stranded on a large scale in the Pacific Ocean, and the "unusual" confused scientists
Things in the UK丨Hundreds of whales were strangely stranded in the "Gate of Hell", and the same tragedy occurred on the same day 2 years ago
Global Network丨Why whales always stranded? What can humans do for them...
Beijing News丨Multiple whales stranded along the coast of my country, artificial water noise may be the biggest cause
Reference Network丨Find the loneliest whale in the world (translated from the British "Guardian" Editor: Maguona)
Time Network丨Trailer-The loneliest whale: Finding 52 (2021)
B site up main cannon Little White Rabbit丨【Chinese characters】"52hz: Finding the loneliest whale" movie promotional video
B site up main typacm丨【English English characters】The loneliest whale: Finding 52
