Haley and Debbie sit down for a story that inspired lots of tangents, opinions, and deep thoughts and reflections! In 1989, a military surveillence system picked up a whale call at a frequency never heard before. With a call at a frequency of 52 hertz, the whale earned its name and decades of fame to go along with it. When researchers studied and shared the story of this whale, thousands of people around the world resonated with the idea of calling out and not being answered or understood. Books, movies, songs, albums, poems, tattoos, and blog posts were created, and the story of the "loneliest" whale became cemented in history. In this episode, we explore the facts that buffer this story and add context, and we're so very excited to share this one with you! Let's Connect! instagram: @creaturemeetsculture gmail: creaturemeetsculture@gmail.com fable (join our book club!): fable.co/club/cmc-book-club-with-debbie-442046716793?club_type=free Sources: Netflix Documentary: https://www.netflix.com/watch/81446263?trackId=284616272&tctx=0%2C0%2C8f3ca2a0-9181-41a2-805a-a1936c3c0e6c%2C8f3ca2a0-9181-41a2-805a-a1936c3c0e6c%7C%3DeyJwYWdlSWQiOiI4ZTI4MzM1Ny1mZjM3LTQ3YzYtYjI2ZS04YzNmNTQ3N2RiOTMvMS8vd2hhbGUgNTIvMC8wIiwibG9jYWxTZWN0aW9uSWQiOiIyIn0%3D%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2CVideo%3A81446263%2CdetailsPagePlayButton Watkins' Publication: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223377110_Twelve_years_of_tracking_52-Hz_whale_calls_from_a_unique_source_in_ the_North_Pacific Blue Whale: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/blue-whale Fin Whale: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/fin-whale Additional: https://cascadiaresearch.org/crc-and-the-loneliest-whale/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/648247/52-hertz-loneliest-whale-documentary https://niche-canada.org/2021/08/19/review-of-the-loneliest-whale-the-search-for-52/ List of Art inspired by Whale 52: MUSIC "Whalien 52" — BTS (2015), from their album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 — about the isolation of fame, directly inspired by 52 "Part of Me Apart From You" — Colin Stetson (2013), from New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light — not explicitly about 52, but the Montreal saxophonist has said publicly at live performances that the whale's story resonated deeply with the composition "Ode to 52 Hz" — Kimiko Hahn, from her 2010 poetry collection Toxic Flora (this is a poem, not a song, but worth noting) An unnamed full album written by a singer in New Mexico who quit his tech job to record it — mentioned in Leslie Jamison's essay but not named FILM & DOCUMENTARY The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (2021) — dir. Joshua Zeman, exec. produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier, 86% on Rotten Tomatoes The Phantom 52 (2019) — animated short, premiered at Sundance, directed by Geoff Marslett, stars Tom Skerritt as the whale The Loneliest (2014) — short mockumentary about two women searching for 52, dir. Lilian T. Mehrel, funded by an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant 52Hz, I Love You (2017) — Taiwanese musical comedy film directed by Wei Te-sheng, loosely inspired by 52 Whale 52: Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale (2025) — animated short, screened at Manhattan's IFC Center and the Woodstock Film Festival, animated by Bill Plympton, stars Bruce Vilanch 52 Hertz Whales (2024) Japanese novelist Sonoko Machida published a novel in 2020 using 52 as a metaphor for voiceless lonely people finding each other — it was adapted into a film in 2024 (called 52-Hertz Whales). LITERATURE & ESSAYS "52 Blue" — Leslie Jamison (2014), The Atavist Magazine, later collected in Make It Scream, Make It Burn (2019) "52 Hertz" — Corrie Williamson (2014), prose poem A children's song written by a singer in Michigan — mentioned in Jamison's essay, unnamed VISUAL ART A sculpture made from old plastic bottles by an artist in upstate New York Countless tattoos, fan art, and social media tributes — including a dedicated Twitter account with the hashtags #lonely and #sadlife
