Spectacular Metallic Symphony in the Mariana Trench

Scientists have recently managed to find the source of a dramatic metallic symphony which came from deep down Mariana trench. The sources of these unusual sounds seem to be elusive minke whales. The sounds emitted by these sea creatures are unique, that is why scientists needed time for research to establish exactly what caused the emission of the metallic symphony.

The hypnotic sounds and clicks were first registered to appear back in 2014, located in the Mariana Trench east of Guam. This discovery was dubbed by researchers as “Western Pacific Blotwang.” The amazing song was measured to reach from 38 to 8,000 hertz. Sharon Nieukirk, the lead bioacoustics researcher at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, has claimed that the sounds emitted by these whales are unique.

Even if they are hard to be distinguished from other sounds in the ocean, they are entirely different, sweeping up and then breaking into a metallic twang. The song was described in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America as being like a moan which unfolds both harmonics, but also amplitude modulation which is then sequenced by a metallic-sounding and broad-frequency sweeps.

Nieukirk together with her team of scientists has thought that the song represented the call of a minke whale, which represents the smallest baleen whale. The sound produced by these sea creatures is similar with the sounds produced by other whales, but it has a unique extra note. Scientists believe that this might be the first time when this type of call was recorded.

They are relying on the help of other researchers who may want to help and gather more information which can confirm their assumption. Nieukirk stated that they need the help of other scientists who are willing and able to help them reveal genetic, visual and acoustic identification of the source. In this way, they could also confirm the species, having the opportunity to discover more clues about the particular species and how it uses this metallic symphony.

The song was split into five parts, each of them last from 2.8 to 3.5 seconds. It was registered by a machine like an underwater robot outfitted with a sensor. The sounds were recorded in the fall of 2014 and the spring of 2015.

Image courtesy of: wikipedia