52 Hertz

Summary

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

Episode: "52 Hertz"
Date: November 27, 2025
Host: Aaron Mahnke

Overview

In this episode, Aaron Mahnke brings listeners two deeply intriguing tales centered around the themes of myth, nature, and misunderstood isolation. The first story explores the living legend and enduring power of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, and her role in shaping both land and culture. The second story investigates the mysterious “52 Hertz Whale”—an unmatched voice in the ocean whose uniqueness has led to global fascination and poignant reflections on loneliness. Both tales invite listeners to question the boundaries between fact and superstition, nature and humanity.

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Story 1: Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes (00:38–05:36)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Pele’s Origins and Mythology:

  • Pele, the volcano goddess, journeyed from Tahiti seeking a home, chased by her sister, the goddess of the sea. After a series of trials and displacements across the Hawaiian islands, she settles in Mount Kilauea—"a volcano that remains active to this day."
  • She is seen as both creator and destroyer, a force restoring fertility through volcanic soil but also bringing devastation with her eruptions.

• Cultural Impact & Living Myth:

  • Pele is “one of the few whose power is still alive, so still worth fearing” (02:04).
  • Modern eruptions—like those that paused only as recently as August 2025—demonstrate the ongoing relevance of her legend.

• The Curse of Pele:

  • A popular warning persists: "If anyone takes any lava rocks from the national park, you will invoke Pele's curse and bad luck will follow you back to the mainland" (03:18).
  • Park rangers report tourists returning rocks and sand by mail, apologizing for removing them, and stories abound of ensuing misfortune.

• Roots of the Curse:

  • The warning likely emerged in the 1940s as a means by locals (and tour bus drivers) to cultivate respect among tourists for the land.
  • “Whether you believe in Pele's Curse is up to you. A volcano doesn't care if you believe in it or not. All it cares about is reshaping the world one eruption at a time. And that is the true power of Pele.” (05:25)

Notable Quotes and Moments

• "Ancient gods are more than just superstitions. They reflect how people of the past felt about the lands they lived in." – Aaron Mahnke (00:39)
• "Of all the gods and goddesses of the ancient world, Pele is one of the few whose power is still alive, so still worth fearing." – Aaron Mahnke (02:04)
• "It’s become a crucial, if irritating, part of working at Volcanoes National Park... thousands of pounds of volcanic rock and sand are returned every year." – Aaron Mahnke (04:08)
• “A volcano doesn’t care if you believe in it or not. All it cares about is reshaping the world one eruption at a time. And that is the true power of Pele.” – Aaron Mahnke (05:25)

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Story 2: The 52 Hertz Whale ("52 Blue") (06:43–11:45)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Discovery and Mystery:

  • During the Cold War, US listening posts detect an unidentified underwater sound at a frequency of 52 hertz—at the lower edge of human hearing (06:52).
  • Initially suspected to be a submarine, subsequent analysis by marine scientist Bill Watkins reveals it to be a whale. However, 52 hertz is an atypical frequency for whale communication.

• The Tale of “52 Blue”:

  • The whale calls out—especially during mating season (December–March)—yet apparently receives no reply, fueling a narrative of unique, perhaps unfulfilled, companionship.
  • Despite ongoing attempts, the whale is never directly sighted due to the vastness and depth of its potential territory.

• Cultural Resonance:

  • "Its legend has only grown... It inspired several popular songs with people relating to its loneliness and persistence in looking for a mate." (08:39)
  • Cites BTS’s 2015 song "Whalien 52," which parallels the whale’s isolation to the alienation felt by celebrities.

• Scientific Reevaluation:

  • Recent research suggests projection is at play: Although 52 Blue's frequency is unique, other whales likely hear his call and may communicate by other means.
  • The whale is thought to be a male hybrid of a blue whale and a fin whale, which could explain its unusual song.
  • In 2010, recordings suggested that more than one 52 Hz whale might exist, but double sightings have not recurred.

• Reflections on Projection and Human Loneliness:

  • Mahnke cautions against anthropomorphizing the whale’s existence: “We have no clue what a whale's internal life is like or what 52 Blue's actual family situation is deep beneath the ocean.” (11:11)
  • “...often in their search for him, they reveal that they are a little bit lonely as well.” (11:22)

Notable Quotes and Moments

• "It almost sounds like whining, a low, continuous cry for help, like a giant puppy crying. It doesn't sound like any submarine they have ever heard before." – Aaron Mahnke (06:55)
• "The whale, whatever it was, was talking to itself in a unique language." – Aaron Mahnke (07:27)
• "But recent scientific developments suggest that we might all be projecting way too much onto 52 blue." – Aaron Mahnke (09:42)
• “Curious fans of the whale might claim to be worried about his loneliness, but often in their search for him, they reveal that they are a little bit lonely as well.” – Aaron Mahnke (11:22)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:38 – 05:36: Pele’s myth, her curse, and the volcanic roots of Hawaiian culture.
• 06:43 – 11:45: The discovery, legend, and evolving understanding of the 52 Hertz Whale.

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Tone and Style

Aaron Mahnke’s narrative is inviting and reflective, blending folklore’s reverence with scientific curiosity. His tone oscillates between gentle warning and empathetic introspection, especially when discussing projection and human loneliness. He excels at building stories out of scientific facts, urban legends, and cultural mythology, always encouraging listeners, “until next time, stay curious.”

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Summary

This episode skillfully binds cultural myth and scientific mystery, using the legend of Pele and the enigma of the 52 Hertz Whale to illuminate humanity’s age-old fascination with the unknowable. Mahnke reminds us that sometimes, our search for meaning in the odd and unexplained says as much about us as it does about the world’s enduring curiosities.

Transcript

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[Erin Menke]

Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Ancient gods are more than just superstitions. They reflect how people of the past felt about the lands they lived in. The terror of a thunderstorm, the shock of an earthquake, the beauty of a sunset. These things are just as impressive to us now as they were to ancient peoples. When you're as small as a human being, the sheer power of nature cannot help but feel divine. Take the land of Hawaii. This chain of islands would not exist if not for volcanic activity. And by the time people settled there, it's unsurprising that the volcano would become a fixation of their mythology, literally and figuratively. Volcanoes towered over their lives, and no one knew when an eruption might consume a village. Nobody in the Hawaiian pantheon is as beloved and feared in equal measures as Pele, the goddess of volcanoes. She lives in the heat of Mount Kilauea, a volcano that remains active to this day. According to Hawaiian oral tradition, Pele came from Tahiti in search of a home. Her journey mirrors that of many Polynesian peoples traveling across the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Pele was pursued by her older sister, the goddess of the sea. She settled on the furthest Hawaiian island, Niihau, but her sister extinguished her flame. So she continued east from island to island until she created a volcano so powerful that the sea could not put it out. Pele's nature is a volatile one. Like many deities, she is both a creator and a destroyer. Volcanic soil is extremely fertile, but eruptions lay waste to countless acres, causing sweeping wildfires, destroying plants, animals, and people alike. Kilauea's most recent eruptions paused in August of 2025, but it's still very much an active volcano. Of all the gods and goddesses of the ancient world, Pele is one of the few whose power is still alive, so still worth fearing. It's an impressive example of how culture follows the patterns of the natural world. But that doesn't mean that humans have no power in redefining a goddess. There's a specific legend about Pele, one you will hear if you ever visit Volcanoes national park on the Big island of Hawaii. It comes in the form of a warning. If anyone takes any lava rocks from the national park, you will invoke Pele's curse and bad luck will follow you back to the mainland. Like many classic superstitions, it's not hard to find anecdotes that speak to its existence. The stories go like this. A non Hawaiian tourist comes to the mainland to escape from the drudgery and stress of their daily life. While visiting the Big island, they take a bus tour up to Volcanoes National Park. Awed by the majesty of the twin volcanoes Kilauea and Mauna Lona, they want to take a souvenir of the experience. Maybe it's just a single volcanic rock or a small bottle of black sand. Nothing that a park ranger will notice, of course, but upon coming home, their life will be in shambles. Maybe they will lose their job, or perhaps a long term relationship will collapse, or their finances will crumble. Whatever the outcome might be, all these stories end the same, with the unlucky individual mailing their souvenir back to Hawaii with an apology attached to. Park rangers continue to receive letters from repentant tourists. They estimate that thousands of pounds of volcanic rocks and sand are returned every year. Regularly, a ranger will take a supply of debris and dump it back in the park. It's become a crucial, if irritating, part of working at Volcanoes National Park. And in a way, it might actually be a problem they created for themselves. You see, Hawaii Volcanoes national park was first officially established in 1916, 111 years ago and 18 years after the annexation of Hawaii sometime in the 1940s. It's said that the locals who dealt with tourists grew frustrated with the disrespect that visitors showed to the island. So the tour bus drivers began spreading the story, saying that if you took a rock, you would anger the goddess who lived in the crater. Whether you believe in Pele's Curse is up to you. A volcano doesn't care if you believe it in or not. All it cares about is reshaping the world one eruption at a time. And that is the true power of Pele.

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[Erin Menke]

It's 1989, and the US and the Soviet Union are in the midst of the Cold War. As the war escalates and both sides start deploying more and more nuclear submarines to keep tabs on one another, the United States looks for any advantage it can get in the deep seas. The nation uses a variety of listening devices throughout the Atlantic and Pacific to monitor for Russian submarines. There are listening posts and ships that tow their own listening devices and hydrophones deep at the bottom of the ocean. Through a combination of these technologies, US Forces detect a strange signal off the Pacific coast. It's at 52 hertz, the low end of human hearing. It almost sounds like whining, a low, continuous cry for help, like a giant puppy crying. It doesn't sound like any submarine they have ever heard before. A few years later, with the fall of the Soviet Union, the sound is finally declassified and taken to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutes in Massachusetts. Marine scientist Bill Watkins studies the sound and comes to one conclusion. It's a whale. At the time, this didn't make sense to scientists because whales communicate at frequencies even lower than 52 hertz, which meant that this whale, whatever it was, was talking to itself in a unique language. This was even sadder when considering that its call was only detected during whale mating season from December to March. So it was a whale speaking its own language, trying to find a mate and getting no response. And scientists continue to detect it year after year. They were never able to actually lay eyes on it. And this isn't surprising, as its potential territory is massive, covering hundreds of miles of ocean and significant depths, military submarines can go about 1500 meters down, while some whales have been recorded at 3,000 meters. But all that to say the ocean is big and actually finding this whale would be like finding a needle in a haystack. But its legend has only grown over the years as news stories about the whale permeated the media. It came to be known as 52 Blue. It inspired several popular songs with people relating to its loneliness and its persistence in looking for a mate. And while a few of those songs have been mildly popular, the most recent is the 2015 BTS song Waylian 52. In it, the Korean boy band sings about how being mega celebrities isolates them like the whale, leaving them all alone in the dark, where they can't truly connect with anyone. Ultimately, though, I think I feel more sorry for the whale. But recent scientific developments suggest that we might all be projecting way too much onto 52 blue. Researchers have pointed out that just because other whales don't speak the same language doesn't mean they aren't hearing it. They hear everything in their territory. And it's possible that the other whales are able to communicate back to Blu in other ways. It's even possible he has a mate who just doesn't answer back at 52 hertz. And yes, scientists do know that Blue is a he, based on his vocal register. And further analysis of his call has revealed something else his potential species. It seems likely that Blue is actually what's called a finblue hybrid, or a mix between a blue whale and a fin whale. Blue whales are the longest whales, and fin whales are the fastest and second longest. So 52 blue might be quite large and quite dynamic in the water. This also might explain his unique call. These hybrids are becoming better documented, and it's possible that Blue was just ahead of his time. In fact, there was a shocking development in 2010 that gave all 52 Blue fans hope. Scientists detected the 52 Hz signal at 2 very different places in the Pacific Ocean at roughly the same time. This means that there is potentially more than one 52 Hz whale. We just haven't heard them at the same time as often as we have thought. But sadly, there haven't been any double recordings ever since. Overall, it doesn't hurt to be curious about this unique creature and where it comes from. But ascribing human emotions and conditions to it isn't a great idea. We have no clue what a whale's internal life is like or what 52 Blue's actual family situation is deep beneath the ocean. Curious fans of the whale might claim to be worried about his loneliness, but often in their search for him, they reveal that they are a little bit lonely as well. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting curiositiespodcast.com the show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series and television show and you can learn all about it [e-mail] and until next time, stay curious.

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