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k|ltlaDa Nature reflects our nature 52-Hertz “In the underwater world dominated by sound lives the loneliest whale with an unusual vocalization”. 52- hertz whale is an individual whale which calls at an unusual frequency of 52 Hz. Due to its unique sonic frequency, it appears to have gotten less or no re- sponse from other whales be it blue or fin whales. Blue whales usually call at the frequency of 15-20 Hz while fin whales vocalize at 20 Hz. As the pitch of 52 Hz whale is much higher than the frequency to which whales respond to, it seems to have received no company despite calling out thereby earning the nickname of “The Loneliest Whale”. This unusual frequency was first discovered by Wil- liam Watkins, one of the pioneers in the field of marine mammal bioacoustics in the North Pacific in 1989. Despite receiving the signal of a whale travelling in the same way and the area of blue and fin whales, the vocalization was of rather high pitch which roused interest in the Watkins. Thus, William Watkins and his team recorded the whale yearly for about 14 years, each time picking the signal in August or September and following it until, it swam out of range in January or early February. The findings were published in the Journal Deep Sea Research in 2004. unheard ones out there. It has been a namesake for some foundations which have reached out to help others. While this empathetic and caring nature of human beings, one can hope that people will soon re- alize that they are in fact causing many species to be lonely through their materialistic ways. Extinction rate now has been estimated to be 1000 to 10,000 times the natural background rate. We have to protect the species for balanced and sustaining biosphere. Shraddha Kunwar B.Sc. Environment Science 2nd year (Batch-2017) Surprisingly, the study was picked up by the general media and this quickly caught attention of the public. Humans were wondering and relating empathetical- ly that if the whale was communicating at a different frequency than others of its kind then would it ever receive any response. Soon the 52 Hz whale became a symbol and metaphor of loneliness and ‘unheard- ness’ to which many people appeared to identify themselves with. The story of 52 Hz whale certainly got people emotional thinking about the whale crying out in a massive space but getting no response from the void. Upon researchers unravelling the story, some be- lieve that whale’s singing has features similar to that of a blue whale and that all the whale can usually hear it. By 2015, the vocalization of the 52 Hz whale had deepened as humans’ do and it sounded close to 46 Hz. No sighting of the whale has been record- ed till now. Even though unusual frequency might cause difficulties in communication, it is indeed get- ting harder for the whales’ call to be heard above the noise caused by human activities such as oil and gas exploration, degrading and shipping traffic. The 52 Hz whale has given a story to the lonely and Nature and Social Concern Society 42