What do you think of this fact?
In the summer of 1997, researchers in the Pacific heard something they couldn’t explain. A deep, rising sound they called the “Bloop”.
A sound across the ocean
The US agency NOAA monitors the ocean with underwater microphones called hydrophones. According to NOAA, the Bloop was picked up by several of them, more than 3,219 kilometers (2,000 miles) apart. Hardly any sound travels that far.
According to ScienceAlert, the Bloop lasted about a minute. It sounded a bit like an animal, but was much louder than anything known from sea creatures. No wonder speculation started quickly: was there a giant unknown creature in the deep sea?
The answer
The answer was less creepy but still fascinating. According to NOAA, the Bloop came from an icequake. That’s the sound made when large icebergs crack or huge chunks of ice break off glaciers in Antarctica.
According to ScienceAlert, NOAA got on the trail in 2005, during acoustic surveys in the Antarctic off South America. According to ScienceAlert, the case was closed for good by 2011. Until then, the mystery had kept sea monster fans busy for about 8 years.
Bonus fact: According to ScienceAlert, the Bloop was one of the loudest underwater sounds ever recorded. Earlier guesses included military exercises, ships, a giant squid and blue whales.
Sound travels much further in water than in air. That’s why hydrophones can record events many thousands of kilometers away, such as earthquakes, whales or breaking ice.
So it wasn’t a monster. But an iceberg you can hear cracking across half an ocean is pretty impressive too.