A sad story

I had heard of this several times but Kuro5hin has a nice wrap-up with links: bq. The Loneliest Mystery of the Deep For the last 12 years, a single solitary whale whose vocalizations match no known living species has been tracked across the Northeast Pacific. Its wanderings match no known migratory patterns of any living whale species. Its vocalizations have also subtly deepened over the years, indicating that the whale is maturing and ageing. And, during the entire 12 year span that it has been tracked, it has been calling out for contact from others of its own kind. bq. It has received no answer. Nor will it ever. Click on the link above -- there are pointers to audio recordings, the tech behind the recordings, the people curious about just who this is and what it might be. A sad story in some senses but a fascinating one too... UPDATE: I was reading through the comments on the Kuro5hin site and one popped out at me: bq. Didn't anyone have the same first thought I had?: bq. ANSWER THE WHALE. bq. If it truly is the only whale on that frequency, it's not like you're going to confuse an entire whale civilization. Answer him. I'm sure the whale-sound scientists could come up with something that would be a basic set of sounds, akin to simply "yelling out loud" in whalespeak. Like DUUUH! It would be a valid test and might yield a reply. How cool would that be.