Mystery Strange Sounds From the Deep Oceans: bloop, Julia, whistle, train, slowdown, upsweep

Feb 17, 2013

unexplained sounds from deep ocean, Bloop, Whistle, Julia, Train, Slowdown, Upsweep, Unexplained sounds from the deep oceans: Bloop, Whistle, Julia, Train, Slowdown, Upsweep — Unexplained sounds from the deep oceans: Bloop, Whistle, Julia, Train, Slowdown, Upsweep

There are plenty of mysterious and weird noises around the world!

Discover in the following videos 6 unexplained sounds coming from the deep oceans.

The Bloop: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean | NOAA SOSUS

What created this strange sound in Earth’s Pacific Ocean? The video presents a visual representation (horizontal axis = time; deep pitch = vertical axis; brightness = loudness) of a loud and unusual sound, dubbed a Bloop, captured by deep sea microphones in 1997. Although Bloops are some of the loudest sounds of any type ever recorded in Earth’s oceans, their origin remains unknown. The Bloop sound was placed as occurring several times off the southern coast of South America and was audible 5,000 kilometers away. Although the sound has similarities to those vocalized by living organisms, not even a blue whale is large enough to croon this loud. The sounds point to the intriguing hypothesis that even larger life forms lurk in the unexplored darkness of Earth’s deep oceans. A less imagination-inspiring possibility, however, is that the sounds resulted from some sort of iceberg calving. No further Bloops have been heard since 1997, although other loud and unexplained sounds have been recorded.

Julia: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean

This sound was recorded on March 1, 1999 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array. The source of the sound is unknown, but is sufficiently loud to be heard over the entire array. The duration is approximately 15 seconds and is severely band limited. Like the Bloop, Julia is most likely the sound of ice. In this case, NOAA researchers suspect the hydrophones picked up the sound of a large Antarctic iceberg running into the seafloor.

Upsweep: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean

Upsweep, which was first recorded in August 1991. Unlike most of the other sounds on this list, it can still be heard. While the noise is strongest in the spring and fall, it appears to be getting generally weaker over time. It’s located somewhere deep in the South Pacific near Antarctica, located about 2,500 miles due west of the very southern tip of South America. It was initially thought that this sound might be created by fin whales, but in 1996 researchers Emile Okal and Jacques Talandier argued that there wasn’t enough variation in the tone for it to be biological – whales wouldn’t be able to communicate much if they only used these same tones over and over. They argued that this was some unusual acoustic phenomenon linked to volcanic activity in the region, perhaps the result of seawater and volcanic gas interacting and creating a resonance pattern. Sure enough, a French research vessel found volcanic seamounts in the region, which makes this the most likely explanation.

Slowdown: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean

This sound was recorded May 19, 1997 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array. The sound slowly descends in frequency over about 7 minutes and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on three sensors at 95W, and 8S, 0, and 8N, at a range of nearly 2,000 km. This type of signal has not been heard before or since. It yields a general location near 15oS; 115oW. The origin of the sound is unknown.

Train: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean

This sound was recorded on March 5, 1997 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array. The sound rises to a quasi-steady frequency. The origin of the sound is unknown.

Whistle: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean

Whistle, which was recorded on July 7, 1997. This one was only picked up by a single hydrophone located about 1,700 miles west of Costa Rica, and the precise origin of the sound is unknown. There aren’t currently any preferred explanations for this sound.