After protracted disputes and the publication of conflicting hypotheses, oceanologists nevertheless came to a consensus, which was the cause of the “metallic” sound recorded 2 years ago in the area of the Mariana Trench.
A mysterious sound was recorded during the operation of a deep-sea vehicle in the period 2014-2015. in an oceanic deep-sea trench located in the east Pacific Ocean. The duration of the recorded sound was 3.5 seconds. It consisted of 5 parts differing in their characteristics, in the frequency range from 38 to 8 thousand Hz.
According to the latest version, the sound was made by a whale from the family of minke whales – the northern minke whale. Until now, not much has been known about his “vocal addictions” to science.
As an expert in marine bioacoustics from the Oregon Research University (USA) explains, the captured signal differs from previously recorded ones in terms of sound complexity and a characteristic “metallic” timbre.
Oceanologists are still not 100 percent sure what the recorded sound meant. After all, whales “sing” only during the breeding season. Perhaps the signal had some completely different function.