The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (2021) User Reviews (11)

Wonderful documentary about the 52-hertz whale

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 18 July 2021]

"The Loneliest Whale - The Search for 52" (2021 release; 96 min.) is a documentary about the (in)famous "52-hertz whale", whose call, which is unlike any other whale's, was first registered by the US Navy in 1992, but last was heard of in 2004. We are introduced to Josh Zeman, who is fascinated about the stories and the many ,many articles about the "loneliest whale in the world", whose call can be heard, but not understood, by other whales. Zeman puts together a team of experts, and off they go on a 7 day search off the coast of southern California, like looking for a needle in a haystack... At this point we are less than 15 min. Into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this movie was first announced in 2015, and it took writer-producer-director Josh Zeman literally years to pursue this long project. Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the earliest co-producers. The film brings a number of sidebars as we go on the hunt for 52: how whales communicate with each other; the impact of the tens of thousands of container ships into/out of LA and Long Beach; etc. Along the way we are treated to some gorgeous footage of blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales, etc. (Beware: there is also a short but brutal and nauseating segment on whale hunting, But of course the overwhelming question you have is: do they find the 52-hertz whale? And it the 52-hertz whale indeed the loneliest whale on the planet. I'm not going to spoil it of course. Please note that this film sadly is the very last score of film composer Alex Lasarenko (to whom the movie is dedicated).

"The Loneliest Whale: The Search For 52" opened last weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Sunday matinee screening where I saw this at was not attended well (exactly 6 people, including myself). Regardless, if you like nature documentaries, or have a particular interest in the 52-hertz whale, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (better hurry), on Amazon Instant Video and other streaming services, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

One is the loneliest number

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 9 July 2021]

Greetings again from the darkness. The old adage goes, "There's someone for everyone." Even for the outsiders and misfits. But what if there is only one? First heard by Navy research in 1989, "the Loneliest Whale in the World" has been named "52" due to his unique 52 Hertz call. He has never been seen and his song was last heard in 2003 ... so there is no guarantee he's still alive. Director Joshua Zemen has long been fascinated by the legend of 52 - a majestic creature assumed to be living in isolation since no other whales can hear his call.

It's a sad story and one that caused a social frenzy as so many related their own stories of loneliness, proving yet again how humans connect with the animal kingdom. Whales have long played a role in the bible (Jonah) and in literature (Captain Ahab from "Moby Dick"), but 52's unusual call was picked up thanks to the Navy's Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) which had been developed to track submarines during war time. It took the late Oceanographer Bill Watkins to recognize the call as biological, creating the origin of the legend and mystery. Watkins claimed we can hear more than we see in the ocean, and there's much to learn from those sounds.

When the 52 Hertz call was once again heard, director Zemen secured funding for a 7-day excursion off the Santa Barbara coast with the goal of locating the whale. He assembled a team of Oceanographers, Biologists, and researchers - each knowledgeable and passionate. Zemen is the outsider of this group, and in the film's only flaw, allows himself to be the focus a bit too often. Interspersed within the 7 day mission are history lessons regarding the hunting of whales, once commonplace. All of that changed with the 1970 best-selling record entitled, "Songs of the Humpback Whales". Hearing their calls and singing led directly to the "Save the Whales" era - and the hunting and slaughtering was cut by 99 percent.

Director Zemen is having quite the year, as his excellent docuseries, "The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness" was recently released. Here he works hard at instilling some entertainment into the science project by including the captain's 52 Lost Love music tape featuring Pablo Cruise, and a quick segment with the quirky and brilliant Kate Micucci ... plus a humorous moment informing us that single bunks are for one person. The film doesn't get the "tied up with a bow" ending Zemen and the researchers might hope for, but the mystery shifts a bit, and we realize how much we've enjoyed spending time with these smart, caring folks. Leonardo DiCaprio donated $50,000 to the project and is listed as an Executive Producer for the film that offers some close-ups and details that are likely new to many of us.

Bleeker Street will release the film in theaters nationwide on July 9 and on Digital July 16.

Great music...not so great docu.

[michelfun · 5/10 · 31 July 2021]

Guys. If you want to hear them whales, talk to them. Next time please take some underwater speakers and play sounds from whales. They will talk back. It's been done and proven many times.. You guys dropt microphones and are hoping to find 1 whale out of thousands. Common man. Next time be more clever about it. If you want to prove to the world whales are socially smart beings, then at least do an effort to connect to them.

Personally I think Orcas are much smarter. How they hunt together cleverly, how they create waves to wash seals of ice plates, how they use their weight to flip ice plates and above seals off it, how they avoid humans in water knowing that they don't want to eat them even if they could, they seem much more smarter. I mean if whales are so smart, why are they still hit so many times by ships and do they rarely do an effort to avoid ships, even if they clearly hear the coming with their great hearing. I think it almost never happens to orcas or dolphins. They seen more conscious about their surroundings and the danger.

Compliments about the intriguing music. And about the visuals, it made me want to watch until the end, although it was disappointing as a whole.

Song of Respect

[JoshuaMercott · 9/10 · 19 July 2021]

This documentary is added proof that we know so little about the world -especially our oceans - and the lifeforms with whom we share this planet. Literally one whale, "52", provided all the substance this docu needed to regale, educate, and inspire all those who see it. It did me, anyway.

The whale's numerical nickname comes from the sonar measurement '52 Hertz' (which is apparently not a common sound in the Ocean) that researchers have verified comes from the 'loneliest' whale (i.e., his song, his "signature").

Director Joshua Zeman brought a superbly respectful approach to the way he shot "The Loneliest Whale The Search For 52". Along with writer Lisa Schiller, he can rest assured that he wholesomely told the significant and rather beautiful story of this one whale.

At times, the documentary made me feel like I was privy to a rare mystery, yet one that was somehow relatable. It also showcased crisp and heart-breaking looks at whale killing, international shipping, and noise-pollution in the ocean.

Personally, I must admit, nobody can truly tell if 'loneliness' is what that whale was feeling. These creatures have been around long before Homo Sapiens, and I feel there is a story at play here that is quite different, if not completely foreign, to us as human beings. Whale-52 may be alone (solitary) but - if I'm being completely open-minded - lonely may not be the right word to describe his status.

The documentary did indeed bring in professionals who gave their two-pence on this alternative (though unpopular) opinion.

Take Humans, for instance. We're a social species and yet there are anti-social - as well as those who like their own company, as well as those who can turn extroverted when they feel like it but prefer solitude to socializing - people in the world. This also includes those who are no longer with us.

This docu educated me on the implication that if just one whale can prove so multi-layered and unique, imagine the individual lives of each higher-order life-form in the ocean - and by extension animals, birds, and insects living on terra firma.

Humans are not the only ones with a story to share. I believe we need to evolve/innovate a different kind of sense/tool to truly figure out the stories that animals (birds, fish, insects, beasts et al) have to tell.

There is great wisdom, and many a song, to be found through this superb documentary.

"The Loneliest Whale The Search For 52" (IMDB)

Too little, too long

[Durmey · 4/10 · 20 July 2021]

No spoilers: But the crew set out in search for this whale on a 7-day expedition. 7 days. To find a whale. In an entire ocean. This was the first time bells went off, but I kept watching anyway. Not sure why they thought the entire trip was worth a movie though.

The documentary is too slow. They try to hide the fact that almost nothing happened for most of those 7 days. I'm not spoiling here, they did find something, but they could have just wrapped this docu up in 30 minutes or even better... in an article in the newspaper.

Very well done adventure of the high Seas!

[samwayne-75971 · 9/10 · 27 October 2021]

You just couldn't write this as a fantasy, it's too real! Did not know what we were getting in to, but boy we are happy we did. Good for the whole family, just sit, listen and watch this amazing story unfold before your eyes! Highly recommend this one!

Tons of filler, could have been condensed into a 8 minute youtube vid

[Xavier_Stone · 2/10 · 16 July 2021]

A few shots of whales, some sound bites, then backstory. More backstory and history then a few bits of whale hunting. And repeat.

Incredibly slow paced and uneventful, but then they are hunting for a whale in the oceans and have been searching for years.

Bring in the musicians to add some thoughts. More backstory, then end the film.

The film makers only got enough funding for a 7 day search and that just isn't enough time to do a thorough search. Throw pieces together and wrap it up, stretch it out and call it a day. As a fan this was such a let down.

Finally!!!

[ivananebo-888-947319 · 10/10 · 23 July 2021]

After years of waiting , this documentary is finally released! Interesting story, well done job. Hopefully there will be another search...If there are 2 confirmed who knows how many are there actually. Worth exploring for sure. Joshua, good job! Thanks!

A load of sensationalized nonsense.

[bilal2005 · 3/10 · 26 July 2021]

Garbage .. Waste fo time.

Slow.... They found nothing in 7 days . How would thought he will find it in 7 days? Does that make any sense.

When they found nothing they trick us by saying there is another. O ! We failed to find the first one , now we need another. 52 Part2.

And A sound at the same time, Coz its same sound.

This boring documentary makes me appreciate Finding Nemo so much more than ever

[Ed-Shullivan · 4/10 · 5 July 2022]

I can appreciate that the filmmakers were probably trying to make a serious documentary with spell binding music and the big mystery of where the hell could this lonely whale be situated in the ocean? But after watching 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, and so on, and so on, I realized there is no mystery here to be discovered. I am going to assume some environmental group in conjunction with a government funded project like the millions of dollars spent on examining the Tse Tse Fly went gung ho and spent years as well as a few more millions of wasted tax payor funds searching for this whale coined "52" due to this so called mysterious whale calling out at 52 Hz, a frequency unrecognized by other whales.

I did suffer through the entire documentary and all I got out of it was a whole heap of frustration as both the quality of the documentary and the boring flow of the film was as entertaining as watching a Joe Biden speech waiting for his next faux pas.

I give this documentary a 4 out of 10 IMDb rating.

It's about the film, not the whale.

[mtbgtown · 4/10 · 21 October 2021]

Some amazing facts about whales I never knew. I wish the film spent more time on that and less on progressive activism.

Whaling is over. I believe Moby Dick catalyzed it in the 1850s, but the filmmaker credits a hippy era recording of whale song. Fine.

Shipping lanes exist because we have offshored our economy to Asia. Globalism did that. The progressives who made this film probably voted for Biden so they could get rid of the evil orange man, but Trump policy brought manufacturing home, resulting in fewer container ships plowing through whale herds. Domestic production goes up, jobs go up. This was before the Fauci-funded Virus.

The film seemed over-scripted. Few believe a week searching for a whale that has been a mystery for 60 years could accomplish anything (but pique grant interest). You get the impression the expedition was solely in service to the film, not mystery whales, as the cliché dialogue and staged drama suggests.

After the credits, a year later, a handheld shot of a school of whales, and the voiceover proclaiming: "there he is!"