When the Whidbey Island technicians watched the first recordings of the whale that would come to be known as “52 Blue” pulse onto graph paper in the late 1980s, they could not have known that what they saw that day would capture the collective imagination of humans from New York to Seoul — and everywhere in between. 

52 Blue’s story is the true story of a mysterious whale recorded vocalizing at a pitch of 52 hertz. The pattern of his voice bore a strong resemblance to the calls of a blue whale, except for one thing: blue whales have a fundamental frequency range of 10 - 40 Hz. While it is true that whale songs change and evolve over time, 52 hertz was previously unheard of. As far as anyone knew, no other whale had ever cried out at this pitch before. It seemed as though 52 Blue was completely alone. A legend was born. 

“We need more of us to show up with all of ourselves and all of our stories. For me, that's meant not just showing up as myself, but showing up with my talents, showing up with my ability to build community, showing up with my presence and my voice and being in a place that is very unlikely for someone like me to be in.”

Wyn Wiley, creator of @PattieGonia
Episode 12 - Putting Your Boots On

52 Blue became a symbol of solitude and loneliness in a world where it can be too easy to feel like you’re the only one who feels what you’re feeling — about the ocean, about the environmental crisis, about plastic pollution. Today, the world’s loneliest whale has his own K-pop song: Whalien 52, by BTS. He’s inspired books, movies, and children’s TV shows. He’s also our namesake.

Lonely Whale was created with the spirit of community in mind, recognizing the loneliness we’ve all known before, and bringing humanity together around a vision for a better, healthier world.

That community is the reason we decided to launch our first-ever podcast in the middle of a pandemic. At a time when the nature of the coronavirus requires us all to seek distance from one another and shelter in place, our team at Lonely Whale knew that shutting our doors didn’t have to mean shutting our hearts — to each other, nor to change. Against the Current, season one of Lonely Whale’s new podcast, was inspired by 52 Blue and all of the incredible change-makers out there who dare to take action at their own frequency.

“We need to create a way in which we can live every day amongst each other to satisfy the deep needs of a society, the human beings within it, including our environment like that is where that is our home.”

Adrian Grenier, Lonely Whale Co-Founder
Episode 1 - Against the Current

Wyn Wiley’s journey as an ally-in-progress, drag queen known as “Pattie Gonia” demonstrates the importance of new approaches to conservation. Wiley’s work as an Intersectional Environmentalist breaks from patriarchal nature narratives to acknowledge and recognize the queerness that has always existed in the environmental space; in the queerness of nature itself.

Against the Current is a mirror of an environmental movement in flux, as it is being reimagined and redefined by the next generation of activists. In an ever-changing world, it only makes sense for environmentalism to be ever-changing too. Right now, people just like you around the world are refusing to conform and are breaking down barriers and driving against the current — for social justice and for a future with clean seas. Listen to our five-episode collection of stories from people building resilient communities and taking action on climate below.

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