Sound is Art
Listen to field recordings, instruments, performances and organized noise Curated by Margaret Noble
The Bloop
Categories: Sound Oddities

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NOAA Ocean Explorer: Sound in the Sea 2001

Sound Clip: The Bloop by NOAA Ocean Explorer

Photo above is a spectrogram of an unidentified sound, referred to as “Bloop.” The recorded signal has been sped up 16 times. This “Bloop” was repeatedly recorded during the summer of 1997 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array. The sound rises rapidly in frequency over about one minute and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on multiple sensors, at a range of over 5,000 km. It yields a general location near 50oS; 100oW (far off the west coast of southern South America). The origin of the sound is unknown.

The photo below explains some of NOAA underwater recording techniques.

NOAA Ocean Explorer: Sound in the Sea 2001

This map shows the location of the submarine cable off the central California coast that was being used for the Sound in the Sea Acoustic Monitoring Project. This cable stretched approximately 100 km, from Pillar Point Air Force Station to the underwater seamount known as Pioneer Seamount. A passive underwater hydrophone was installed on the seaward end of the cable. Data on recorded sounds was relayed via the cable for processing at a station on land.

More on NOAA Ocean Explorer Recordings

Categories: Sound Oddities -

2 Comments to “The Bloop”

  1. adam says:

    where could I get a copy of this sound file?

  2. weirdcase says:

    In addition to “Bloop” sound, there’s also a sound called “Slow Down” and “Hum”.
    http://weirdcase.com/unidentified-sounds-of-the-sea-bloop-and-slow-down/

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