Nobody has ever seen this marine mammal, finding it will be a challenge

Jul 18, 2013 17:21 GMT  ·  By
Scientists and filmmakers want to find the world's loneliest whale, prove it's not that lonely
   Scientists and filmmakers want to find the world's loneliest whale, prove it's not that lonely

A team of scientists and documentary filmmakers are now busy getting ready to go looking for a creature dubbed “the world's loneliest whale.”

Since nobody has ever set eyes on this animal, there is little doubt that their quest will turn out to be quite a challenge.

About two decades ago, the US Navy picked up on a whale song that sounded nothing like the ones marine mammals typically produced.

The creature emitting these vocalizations sings at a frequency of 52Hz, Nature World News reports.

Most other whales sing at frequencies of 17-19 Hz, which is why many people believe that this marine animal is unable to communicate with others of its kind.

Documentary filmmaker Joshua Zeman doubts that this is the case, and argues that, should he and the other people joining this expedition succeed in finding the whale, the latter will probably be swimming alongside other marine mammals when they do.

Whale expert Bruce Mate shares his opinion.

He says that, “From my standpoint, while I understand that there are some people who are passionate about this whale, who have very strong emotions about the loneliest whale in the world, when we go out and find this animal, I expect to find it in the midst of other whales.”

The researchers will embark on their quest next autumn. They will search for the elusive whale in the North Pacific Ocean.