The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52

"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.

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.

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!

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.

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.