In 1997, NOAA recorded a sound louder than any known animal
In 1997, NOAA recorded an unusual underwater sound known as 'the Bloop' off the coast of southern Chile. Initially thought to be from a powerful living creature, it was later identified as the result of icequakes. The sound remains a notable example of the ocean's unexplained phenomena, despite its mundane origin.
- ▪NOAA's underwater microphone network recorded the Bloop in the summer of 1997.
- ▪The sound was loud enough to be detected by sensors nearly 5,000 kilometers apart.
- ▪In 2012, researchers linked the Bloop's acoustic signature to sounds produced by massive Antarctic icebergs.
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| Canonical URL | https://boingboing.net/2026/05/19/in-1997-noaa-recorded-a-sound-louder-than-any-known-animal.html |
| Publication time | Tue, 19 May 2026 20:27:41 +0000 |
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In 1997, NOAA recorded a sound louder than any known animal Ellsworth Toohey 1:27 pm Tue May 19, 2026 In the summer of 1997, NOAA's underwater microphone network — a Cold War-era array of hydrophones originally built to track Soviet submarines and later repurposed to monitor earthquakes and whale migrations — picked up something strange off the coast of southern Chile. The sound lasted about a minute, rose in frequency as it went, and was loud enough to register on sensors nearly 5,000 kilometers apart. NOAA scientist Christopher Fox noted that the audio profile resembled a living creature, but added that whatever made it would have to be far more powerful than any animal on Earth. The sound — which NOAA nicknamed "the Bloop" — was recorded exactly once and never appeared again.
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