4 ms·

The loneliness aspect of the whale tugs at my heartstrings. I know I am most likely romanticizing and anthropomorphizing nature, but still.

nkrisc 4mo ago
I've only read the linked Wikipedia article, but is there any evidence that calling at this frequency somehow impedes communication with other whales? I don't know very much about how whales communicate and socialize.
1970-01-01 4mo ago
Whales have the biggest brains on the entire planet. Scientifically proven they have feelings. You're doing it right.
cortesoft 4mo ago
Hopefully it is accepted by the other whales, even if it communicates in a different frequency. My quick research shows that blue whales can hear much higher frequencies, all the way up to about 18,000 hz, so it isn't like the other whales can't hear this one. Hopefully the whale is accepted and communicated with, and the other whales just know them as "the one with the higher pitched voice"
too_pricey 4mo ago
I get it. Reminds me of the [last song] (https://youtu.be/nDRY0CmcYNU?is=2G47ZpdH3rSk_j3P https://youtu.be/nDRY0CmcYNU?is=2G47ZpdH3rSk_j3P) of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō.
pragma_x 4mo ago
Same here. This part got me: > The whale itself has never been sighted: it has only been heard via hydrophones, but its call has been detected since the late 1980s in a pattern that matches the migration of the blue whale and the fin whale. Those species call at 10 to 39 Hz and 20 Hz respectively. So not only lonely, but sings in a falsetto by whale standards; a weirdo. A lonely fellow with a distinctly high-pitched voice.
- ErroneousBosh 4mo ago
  > The whale itself has never been sighted: it has only been heard via hydrophones, How do we know it's a whale, then?
rkagerer 4mo ago
But it may not be the only one! > recordings of a second 52-hertz whale, heard elsewhere at the same time, have been sporadically found since 2010.
bmitc 4mo ago
> anthropomorphizing nature Whales are much more deeply connected emotionally to one another than we will ever be. And some species are probably as smart as we are.
- anomaloustho 4mo ago
  I think you don’t want to anthropomorphize nature, not because you shouldn’t have empathy, but because it can cause you to draw the wrong scientific conclusions. e.g. faithful bird conclusions when they aren’t always monogamous, ants forming societies and having loyalty when they don’t, alpha wolves when alphas aren’t really a thing.

nkrisc 4mo ago

I've only read the linked Wikipedia article, but is there any evidence that calling at this frequency somehow impedes communication with other whales? I don't know very much about how whales communicate and socialize.

1970-01-01 4mo ago

Whales have the biggest brains on the entire planet. Scientifically proven they have feelings. You're doing it right.

cortesoft 4mo ago

Hopefully it is accepted by the other whales, even if it communicates in a different frequency. My quick research shows that blue whales can hear much higher frequencies, all the way up to about 18,000 hz, so it isn't like the other whales can't hear this one. Hopefully the whale is accepted and communicated with, and the other whales just know them as "the one with the higher pitched voice"

too_pricey 4mo ago

I get it. Reminds me of the [last song] (https://youtu.be/nDRY0CmcYNU?is=2G47ZpdH3rSk_j3P https://youtu.be/nDRY0CmcYNU?is=2G47ZpdH3rSk_j3P) of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō.

pragma_x 4mo ago

Same here. This part got me: > The whale itself has never been sighted: it has only been heard via hydrophones, but its call has been detected since the late 1980s in a pattern that matches the migration of the blue whale and the fin whale. Those species call at 10 to 39 Hz and 20 Hz respectively. So not only lonely, but sings in a falsetto by whale standards; a weirdo. A lonely fellow with a distinctly high-pitched voice.

ErroneousBosh 4mo ago
> The whale itself has never been sighted: it has only been heard via hydrophones, How do we know it's a whale, then?

rkagerer 4mo ago

But it may not be the only one! > recordings of a second 52-hertz whale, heard elsewhere at the same time, have been sporadically found since 2010.

bmitc 4mo ago

> anthropomorphizing nature Whales are much more deeply connected emotionally to one another than we will ever be. And some species are probably as smart as we are.

anomaloustho 4mo ago
I think you don’t want to anthropomorphize nature, not because you shouldn’t have empathy, but because it can cause you to draw the wrong scientific conclusions. e.g. faithful bird conclusions when they aren’t always monogamous, ants forming societies and having loyalty when they don’t, alpha wolves when alphas aren’t really a thing.