The Loudest Underwater Sound Ever Recorded

Joe Scott of Answers With Joe explores the history of deep-sea sound recordings, including “The Bloop” It is known as the loudest underwater sound ever recorded and was captured by hydrophones placed around the Pacific Ocean.

The ocean is wide, vast, and terrifying. But for the last 40 years, researchers around the world have been recording audio from hydrophones to try to understand it better. And we’ve learned a lot. But a surprising number of sounds have been recorded that defy explanation.

The Bloop, the iconic ultra-low-frequency and high-amplitude sound, was recorded in 1997, and went unsolved for many years, leading to a vast array of conspiracies. It was finally solved in 2005. Rather than the giant deep-sea creature of the imagination, the mysterious recording turned out to be the sound of a fracturing icequake.

 They finally discovered The Bloop source. it was the sound of an Ice Quake which is an iceberg cracking and breaking away from the Antarctic Glacier kind of anticlimactic of course, you know, when you think about it or more frightening if you’re concerned about climate change. 

He also talks about other mysterious sounds recorded in the ocean.

The Bloop is not the only mysterious sea sound that we’ve recorded. There are actually several unexplained sounds from the ocean that we still don’t know what’s making them.

Here’s The Bloop recording.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.