The Bloop: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean
Explanation:
What created this strange sound in Earth's Pacific Ocean?
Pictured above is a visual representation of a
loud and unusual sound, dubbed a Bloop, captured by
deep
sea microphones in 1997.
In the
above graph, time is shown on the horizontal axis, deep
pitch
is shown on the vertical axis, and brightness designates loudness.
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.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
