Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
How long did a person have to be missing before they could be declared dead? Different countries had different regulations on the issue. Generally speaking, it was around three or five years, though there were some that had a shorter, or longer, time frame.
So, how long until a missing whale could be declared dead? It was hard to say.
The whale, known as “52 Hertz” because of its unique sound frequency band, had been discovered in 1989. That meant it was at least 30 years old.
Generally, the lifespan of whales was very long, much longer than 30 years, but too many things could happen in that timeframe.
People had not heard its sound since 2004, which was 15 years after it was first discovered.
There were still some countries in the world that were whaling out in the open sea. Whalers did not discern their target’s voice before they fired off their harpoon; for them, whales were just whales––nothing more than a huge block of meat. To them, there was no difference between the two. With such thoughts in mind, people couldn’t help but worry about 52 Hertz and its fate.
Zhang Zian had read its story before, but when he learned that it had not appeared for many years, he also leaned towards the belief that it was dead. It could’ve been through old age, or through a health issue, or even by natural causes, such as encountering a large group of killer whales. But of course, it could’ve also lost its life to whalers.
When Zian encountered the mysterious whale, he had thrown its story into the corner of his memory. He hadn’t realized the possibility that it could’ve been 52 Hertz. After all, the ocean was too big, and there were many whales in the ocean… How could there have been such a coincidence? And how could he have thought that the giant whale was 52 Hertz?
People had only ever heard its sound; no one had ever seen its physical body before. They weren’t even certain what kind of whale it was. The only way to determine the identity of 52 Hertz was to judge by its sound. Any other methods were unreliable.
Earlier, when Zhang Zian played the sound of the giant whale on the laptop, he found that its sound frequency band was very unique; it was between 45 and 50 Hz. Therefore, he hadn’t associated the giant whale with 52 Hertz immediately and had mistakenly thought that he had recorded the sound of another whale nearby. Fortunately, he immediately negated that guess, and then recalled a related rumor: The sound frequency band of 52 Hertz when it was just discovered was 52 Hz, but it had slowly gone lower over time. Eventually, it fell between the 45 to 50 Hz range.
52 Hertz had often lingered on the west coast of the United States all the way up to Alaska, which was the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Had it ventured into the completely unfamiliar waters of the western Pacific Ocean, near northeast Asia, after many fruitless results of searching for its own kind?
The possibility existed… After all, it was a special whale.
Ever since it came to the western Pacific Ocean, scientists on the west coast of the United States had lost its trace.
On the long coastline of northeast Asia, there were many places that were desolated regions, and they did not have precise underwater listening systems. It was normal that its sound went undetected and unrecorded.
It could have been due to some kind of juncture… For example, it heard Sihwa’s song and, although it might not have understand the song, it felt the loneliness in the it. It followed the song all the way to the sea just outside of Binhai City, then loitered around the surrounding areas.
The nearest route from the pet shop to the sea was the beach where Zhang Zian often went, and so it always appeared there and met Zhang Zian unexpectedly.
What was it waiting for? What was it expecting?
After thinking it through, Zhang Zian was immediately thrown into a whirlpool of chaos thanks to Sihwa’s crying. He didn’t even have the time to make a plan for his new discovery…
Sihwa, Fina, Old Time Tea, and Pi were all engrossed in his story as if, with Zhang Zian’s storytelling, they were there together with the loneliest whale as it traveled through the vast Pacific Ocean. They witnessed countless magnificent scenes, witnessed countless moments on the survival of the fittest, and witnessed the numerous times it called out to try and reach its own kind, only to be left with no response.
It was swallowed up by the bottomless loneliness as if it had been abandoned by the whole world… But it was not disheartened.
Sihwa in particular felt the deepest connection to it. She was as unique as 52 Hertz. They were the only ones of their own kind in the world. Sihwa silently shed tears again. She had already lost count of the tears she had shed that day, but now it wasn’t for herself. Instead, she cried over the fate of 52 Hertz––for its 30 years of tireless searching and for its courage in crossing the oceans. No one could imagine how it had spent 30 years alone.
Old Time Tea sighed and said, “As the saying goes, ‘Thirty years of achievements are but dust to earth, eight thousand miles under the clouds and moons…’ Accompanied only by the clouds and moon, who could know about the pain and difficulties in its journey so far?”
Even Fina, who was always harshly blunt, nodded with approval.
“That…” Sihwa looked up as shimmering tears swirled around her eyes. She spoke through her tears, “Is there anything we can do for it?”
Zhang Zian said, “Some people have speculated that 52 Hertz may be a descendant of a cross between a blue whale and fin whale. After witnessing it personally, I think that this speculation makes sense. Its biggest wish is to find another whale of a similar kind, but this is very difficult. Even if there’s another whale that’s also a mixed breed, it may not be able to use the frequency band of 45 to 50 Hz.”
There was nothing complicated in the courtship and mating for whales. As long as their size was relatively close, even whales of different types could spark a flame of passion.
Rumors about the hybridization between different types of whales had been around for a long time, but due to the vastness and depth of the sea, confirmed cases were extremely rare to find.
There was an example on the Discovery Channel, where researchers had made their way to Japan and bought whale meat from the Japanese market. The idea was to study the DNA of the whale meat to trace its source. The results of the DNA had indicated that it was a mixed breed from a blue whale and fin whale.
It was such a pity that a rare, mixed breed whale was served up on the dining table of a Japanese family.
However, aside from their sizes being similar, another reason why blue whales and fin whales were able to mate and give birth was because their sound frequency bands were around 20 Hz, so they could find and communicate with each other.
Whales that could produce sounds around 45 to 50 Hz existed too, but the size of those whales was much different than 52 Hertz’s… To insist on having them mate, the image was just too beautiful to imagine.
Zhang Zian continued, “It’s almost impossible for 52 Hertz to find another of its kind, and there’s nothing we can do to help it find one… But this doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything. Although we can’t help it find one of its kind, we can help restore a sense of hope in it. If you want to help it, there’s only one solution.”
“What solution?” Sihwa asked.
Zhang Zian replied immediately, “You can learn its song, and then tell it with the same sound frequency band to not be afraid. It’sß not alone.”
