Noises from the Deep – The Bloop

In the late 90’s scientists from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory were listening for volcanic activity in the southern Pacific. A rather tedious but necessary research activity.

Using underwater microphones (hydrophones) placed more than 3000 km (1800 miles) apart, they were searching a wide area.

Then they heard the noise below. Which they swiftly nicknamed “The Bloop”.

Nobody knew what made the noise or where it really came from. As we have only explored around 5 percent of the Ocean, the Bloop was a completely mystery.

The Bloop – Theories

Just as the WOW signal had excited astronomers and astrophysicist alike, the Bloop had oceanographers just as excited and puzzled.

Theories abounded about where the Bloop could have come from. Was it a military underwater exercise conducted in secret? Or a giant squid or whale? Could it have come from a fleet of fishing trawlers? Or, as some scientists allowed themselves to think, an unknown goliath, living below the depths. Unknown, so far, to man.

Almost a decade passed before a satisfactory explanation for the Bloop came to light. Unfortunately, it proved to be very mundane. Not a deep sea leviathan.

Just a plain old iceberg.

Let me explain. As the iceberg broke away from an Antarctic glacier, the noise recorded was picked up by the team and recorded. But how do we know that was the noise and it wasn’t a deep sea monster? Simple really. Since then we have heard the noise many more times. As global warming accelerates, the noise is present more and more.

Turns out the only monsters in this story are us.