You might not think you have much in common with whales, but Joshua Zeman’s documentary “The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52” follows the search for a whale the whole world can identify with.
In the film, Zeman searches for a particular whale, named 52, who sings at a pitch, 52 Hertz, that other whales cannot understand. The Navy accidentally discovered 52 in 1989. Zeman and a team of scientists attempt to find this whale again to learn its origin, if it is still alive, and how lonely it actually is. The heartwarming expedition is a lighthearted watch with serious themes and implications.
The need to relate and find a place in the world drives Zeman in his search for 52 as the whale’s inability to connect and persistent calling speaks to the human need for community. Because finding one whale in the ocean is an extreme game of finding a needle in a haystack, there is still no footage of 52. Instead, the documentary zooms out and shows whale history, biology, and how whale societies communicate and interact, along with how this understanding changed our perception of whales and saved them from being eradicated.
Through the story of 52, Zeman shows how a lonely whale’s place in the world resembles a human’s, helping viewers realize we are all part of a world much bigger than ourselves. Deeply personal and rooted in scientific evidence, the documentary is sure to pull you in as it tells the strangely familiar story of one lone whale.
