52-hertz whale (opens in new tab)

(en.wikipedia.org)

232 pointsandrewstellman7y ago34 comments

34 comments

25 comments · 9 top-level

Havoc7y ago· 6 in thread

>moves out of range of the hydrophones in January–February

I would have thought the entire ocean is covered by now?

The ocean is so big that some people call it "the last great frontier." There is so much of the ocean we have not explored.

djsumdog7y ago

SeaQuest DSV

1 more reply

singularity20017y ago

yet I read that every meter of ocean floor was physically 'plowed' multiple times over by fishers, on average.

2 more replies

tscs377y ago

Not even close. Coastal regions, yes. But go out of costal regions or below a kilometer of depth and it gets awfully spotty.

sandworm1017y ago

Military networks have been substanially cut back in recent decades. The far north, and most all the southern oceans, are no longer a focus. No risk of russian subs, no listening.

dfsegoat7y ago

Genuinely curious if you know: Has there been any effort to revisit this in recent years? I'm curious given the rise of China + Russia in the Arctic and China's demonstrated belligerence in the Indo-Pacific. [1,2]

1 - https://breakingdefense.com/2018/07/china-russia-in-the-arct... 2 - https://www.newsmax.com/philipguthrie/china-pacific-taiwan-u...

1 more reply

trombonechamp7y ago· 5 in thread

Evidence that it is a whale and that there is only one: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096706370...

userbinator7y ago

I read all 13 pages of that article and didn't find any discussions refuting the possibility that it could be something else, like some piece of equipment on a submarine. The fact that it's very close to 50Hz mains frequency and is otherwise very "un-whale-like" in behaviour suggests to me that it's man-made.

This is probably getting into the realm of conspiracy theory now, but what better than to disguise a submarine to make it sound like a whale, and moreover convince everyone else that it is? Of course if it is actually some highly classified stealth submarine, we may never know...

It somewhat reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peryton_(astronomy)

kylegordon7y ago

Mains frequency has a max 0.2% deviation, which puts your whale well outside of what mains should ever be.

And if you're trying to be all conspiratorial about it and suggest it's a submarine... well, how about making the submarine sound like a normal whale first.

tbabb7y ago

If someone were trying to disguise a submarine as a whale, why wouldn't they give it a normal whale voice?

2 more replies

tzs7y ago

> I read all 13 pages of that article and didn't find any discussions refuting the possibility that it could be something else, like some piece of equipment on a submarine.

Given the range over which it operates and how long it has been doing so and the fact that no one has admitted it is one of theirs suggests if it is a submarine, it is one from a major military. Those put considerable resources into making it hard to hear their submarines. This thing is way too easy to hear, which probably rules out submarines.

walrus017y ago

    Seaman Jones: [teaching Beaumont] Hear it now?

    Beaumont: [resigned] No.

    Seaman Jones: Beaumont, at Caltech we used to do this in our sleep! You hear it now?

    Beaumont: Wait a minute...

    Seaman Jones: Uh oh...

    Beaumont: Buried in the surface clutter...

    Seaman Jones: Yeeeesssss?

    Beaumont: I should go to SAPS?

    Seaman Jones: Correct! Seaman Beaumont, Signal Algorithmic Processing System. Give it a week and you'll be teaching at Caltech. So, like Beethoven on the computer, you have labored to produce... [dot matrix printer rattles] ...a biologic.

    Beaumont: A what?

    Seaman Jones: A whale, Seaman Beaumont, a whale. A marine mammal that knows a hell of a lot more about sonar, than you do.

1 more reply

webkike7y ago· 2 in thread

I would fund an expedition to put a device on this whale that emits a normal range frequency whenever it hears a a call of ~52 hz

cout7y ago

This sounds like a violation of the prime directive.

ASalazarMX7y ago

After abducting a humpback whale from the past and delivering it to an unknown spaceship, I say the prime directive is moot regarding whales.

iso-8859-17y ago· 1 in thread

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11185764

emmelaich7y ago

More comments on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4531563

Jaruzel7y ago· 1 in thread

Is there a non sped up version somewhere?

(Yes, I know how low the frequency is, but a good sub-woofer speaker should be able to play it audibly)

B1FF_PSUVM7y ago

https://www.google.com/search?q=slow+down+sound+online -> maybe https://www.conversion-tool.com/pitch?lang=en if you feel like DIY

xbryanx7y ago· 1 in thread

Just read Fluke by Christopher Moore if you want to know what this is REALLY about.

sincerely7y ago

Could you give us a quick summary of the relevant ideas?

caiobegotti7y ago

That's sad, yet beautiful in some way. My first thought was "wow, this whale managed to survive the japanese whalers for that long" but perhaps the japanese don't hunt that far north in the pacific and the fact it's a lone whale doesn't attract much attention. Since they are social animals and the individual is not malformed I would guess the deafness theory makes a lot of sense, but so does being a hybrid (thus a rejected individual). That is quite a story, thanks for sharing.

1 more reply

bluenose697y ago

If anyone is interested to learn more about the history of recordings, see the following, the first of which has some .wav files holding discussion and recordings, and the second of which is an obituary that reveals much of how such work got started.

Schevill, William E., and William A. Watkins. “Whale and Porpoise Voices: A Phonograph Record.” WHOI unnumbered reports. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (contribution 1320), 1962. https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7431.

“William A. Watkins.” Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Accessed July 7, 2018. https://www.whoi.edu/mr/obit/viewArticle.do?id=1579&pid=1579.

B1FF_PSUVM7y ago

The 10x sped-up recording reminded me of the dial-up handshake tones (this example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_Internet_access is not a very good match)

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34 comments

25 comments · 9 top-level

Havoc7y ago· 6 in thread

>moves out of range of the hydrophones in January–February

I would have thought the entire ocean is covered by now?

AlphaWeaver7y ago

The ocean is so big that some people call it "the last great frontier." There is so much of the ocean we have not explored.

djsumdog7y ago

SeaQuest DSV

1 more reply

singularity20017y ago

yet I read that every meter of ocean floor was physically 'plowed' multiple times over by fishers, on average.

2 more replies

tscs377y ago

Not even close. Coastal regions, yes. But go out of costal regions or below a kilometer of depth and it gets awfully spotty.

sandworm1017y ago

Military networks have been substanially cut back in recent decades. The far north, and most all the southern oceans, are no longer a focus. No risk of russian subs, no listening.

dfsegoat7y ago

1 - https://breakingdefense.com/2018/07/china-russia-in-the-arct... 2 - https://www.newsmax.com/philipguthrie/china-pacific-taiwan-u...

1 more reply

trombonechamp7y ago· 5 in thread

Evidence that it is a whale and that there is only one: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096706370...

userbinator7y ago

It somewhat reminds me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peryton_(astronomy)

kylegordon7y ago

Mains frequency has a max 0.2% deviation, which puts your whale well outside of what mains should ever be.

And if you're trying to be all conspiratorial about it and suggest it's a submarine... well, how about making the submarine sound like a normal whale first.

tbabb7y ago

If someone were trying to disguise a submarine as a whale, why wouldn't they give it a normal whale voice?

2 more replies

tzs7y ago

> I read all 13 pages of that article and didn't find any discussions refuting the possibility that it could be something else, like some piece of equipment on a submarine.

walrus017y ago

    Seaman Jones: [teaching Beaumont] Hear it now?

    Beaumont: [resigned] No.

    Seaman Jones: Beaumont, at Caltech we used to do this in our sleep! You hear it now?

    Beaumont: Wait a minute...

    Seaman Jones: Uh oh...

    Beaumont: Buried in the surface clutter...

    Seaman Jones: Yeeeesssss?

    Beaumont: I should go to SAPS?

    Seaman Jones: Correct! Seaman Beaumont, Signal Algorithmic Processing System. Give it a week and you'll be teaching at Caltech. So, like Beethoven on the computer, you have labored to produce... [dot matrix printer rattles] ...a biologic.

    Beaumont: A what?

    Seaman Jones: A whale, Seaman Beaumont, a whale. A marine mammal that knows a hell of a lot more about sonar, than you do.

1 more reply

webkike7y ago· 2 in thread

I would fund an expedition to put a device on this whale that emits a normal range frequency whenever it hears a a call of ~52 hz

cout7y ago

This sounds like a violation of the prime directive.

ASalazarMX7y ago

After abducting a humpback whale from the past and delivering it to an unknown spaceship, I say the prime directive is moot regarding whales.

iso-8859-17y ago· 1 in thread

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11185764

emmelaich7y ago

More comments on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4531563

Jaruzel7y ago· 1 in thread

Is there a non sped up version somewhere?

(Yes, I know how low the frequency is, but a good sub-woofer speaker should be able to play it audibly)

B1FF_PSUVM7y ago

https://www.google.com/search?q=slow+down+sound+online -> maybe https://www.conversion-tool.com/pitch?lang=en if you feel like DIY

xbryanx7y ago· 1 in thread

Just read Fluke by Christopher Moore if you want to know what this is REALLY about.

sincerely7y ago

Could you give us a quick summary of the relevant ideas?

caiobegotti7y ago

1 more reply

bluenose697y ago

“William A. Watkins.” Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Accessed July 7, 2018. https://www.whoi.edu/mr/obit/viewArticle.do?id=1579&pid=1579.

B1FF_PSUVM7y ago

The 10x sped-up recording reminded me of the dial-up handshake tones (this example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_Internet_access is not a very good match)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse