Loneliest Mystery

I ran across this article on the Internet the other day, and checked it out to make sure it wasn't fiction. Carol and I both were moved by it.

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 aging. 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.

It has received no answer. Nor will it ever.

Whatever the identity of this strange unidentified alien whale, it is, for now, the very definition of poetic, existential loneliness, in both time and space. The whale is somewhere wandering the Northeast Pacific, right now, in a rudderless, aimless track. And right now the lonely beast could be calling out for others of its kind, and finding none, for over 12 years and counting.

This story seems to be true, in fact there are many entries on Google about this lonely whale and some of the theories about it. I was going to write a short story about it but decided to attempt a poem instead.

Hear My Song

I sing for my mother who taught me this song

I sing for my brothers, all of them gone

Once we were many, now I'm alone

Searching in vain for an answering tone

As I grow older I fear no more

Orcas or Squid, harpoons or shore

I sing to the depths and try to cope

Living alone with little hope