Deep in the ocean’s twilight zone, scientists have discovered a strange, low-frequency hum—and no one knows exactly what’s causing it. 🌊🐠 This mysterious sound pulses through the water, and it happens every day, right around sunrise and sunset. Some experts think it might be millions of tiny sea creatures moving up and down in the water, like a giant underwater migration. Others believe it could be linked to ocean currents or even unknown marine life communicating in ways we don’t yet understand. Whatever the cause, this eerie hum is unlike anything we’ve ever heard before! Maybe solving this mystery will unlock secrets about the deep sea that we never imagined. 🌊🔍 Credit:
diel migration: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95495286
Planet Earth III / BBC Studios
OBS deployment: By John Whitehead - Ocean Instruments, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15663716
Utah Rainbow Arch: By BoNoMoJo, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63124
Hydrophone: By Dave Mellinger/Oregon State University - https://flic.kr/p/6p1CyK,
CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48583320
Underwater-microphone hg: By Hannes Grobe/Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2284981
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
diel migration: By NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95495286
Planet Earth III / BBC Studios
OBS deployment: By John Whitehead - Ocean Instruments, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15663716
Utah Rainbow Arch: By BoNoMoJo, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63124
Hydrophone: By Dave Mellinger/Oregon State University - https://flic.kr/p/6p1CyK,
CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48583320
Underwater-microphone hg: By Hannes Grobe/Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2284981
Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official
Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more videos and articles visit:
http://www.brightside.me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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😹
FunTranscript
00:00Well, here you are, you're getting into your submarine, feeling a bit anxious.
00:05You're going to descend hundreds of feet underwater to explore the ocean floor.
00:10So many things can go wrong.
00:12Technical issues, insane water pressure, dangerous marine monsters, mysterious eerie sounds…
00:18Wait, what?
00:19Eerie sounds so deep underwater?
00:22Yep, a strange humming noise is coming from the ocean depths.
00:26What makes it even creepier is that it only appears during dusk and dawn.
00:31This noise might act as a dinner bell since it's likely to have a connection to massive
00:35groups of sea creatures moving up and down through the water to feed.
00:40But so far, it's just a theory.
00:44Using highly sensitive underwater microphones, researchers recorded a mysterious low-frequency
00:49hum at depths of 660 to 3300 feet.
00:54The sound wasn't very loud, just 3-6 decibels above the usual ocean background noise.
01:00For comparison, when someone is whispering in a quiet library, the sound reaches 30 decibels.
01:06The underwater noise also had a puzzling or humming quality.
01:10The weirdest thing?
01:11Despite their efforts, the researchers couldn't pinpoint a single species responsible for
01:16the sound.
01:18The noise originates in a region known as the twilight zone of the ocean.
01:23This region is dark and doesn't have many nutrients, with no sunlight for photosynthesis.
01:29Life here relies on organic debris falling from above, such as deceased organisms or
01:34waste material.
01:35At the same time, while it may sound barren, the twilight zone is far from empty.
01:40A 2015 study estimated that up to 90% of the world's fish could live in this zone, including
01:46many undiscovered species.
01:49Now back to the mysterious noise.
01:52The researchers believe the sound may be linked to the vertical migration of small
01:56marine creatures like fish, shrimp, and squid.
02:00These animals move upward toward the surface at sunset to feed on plankton and nutrients,
02:05using darkness to avoid predators.
02:08At sunrise, they return to the depths to hide.
02:11This migration, which is one of the largest animal movements on Earth, involves billions
02:16of organisms and occurs daily.
02:20Scientists suspect that the strange hum might occur during this migration as a way for the
02:25creatures to communicate or coordinate their movements.
02:29It might also serve as a signal to indicate when it's safe for a group to go to the surface
02:34and feed.
02:35If some animals indeed use the hum to communicate, it could help us understand deep-sea life
02:40better.
02:41The twilight zone has always been considered a quiet environment, but such a discovery
02:46hints at complex social behaviors and interactions among its inhabitants.
02:52But it's not only the ocean that produces bizarre sounds.
02:56Earth is humming non-stop too.
02:58Unfortunately, you can't hear this soundtrack.
03:01This hum isn't from earthquakes.
03:03It's produced by subtle ongoing vibrations in the planet's crust.
03:07They're too faint for us to feel and can only be detectable with special equipment.
03:13Scientists have long known about this phenomenon called free oscillation and have recorded
03:17this persistent hum.
03:20Earthquakes are the most noticeable ground movements.
03:23According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Earth experiences about 500,000 earthquakes every
03:29year.
03:30Of those, only 100,000 are strong enough to be felt, and around 100 cause noticeable damage.
03:37But in the quieter moments between earthquakes, the planet is still constantly vibrating with
03:42smaller, unnoticeable movements.
03:45Unlike the sudden jolts of earthquakes, this hum is steady and uniform, and it's a byproduct
03:50of micro-seismic activity.
03:53Seismometers, tools used to record ground vibrations, can detect this sound anywhere
03:58on land.
03:59For years, researchers have been debating the origins of this hum.
04:04Some thought it came from ocean waves reaching deep into the seafloor.
04:08Others believed it was caused by colliding waves on the ocean's surface.
04:13By 2015, scientists had confirmed that both factors contributed to Earth's constant
04:17vibration.
04:19And although this hum has been recorded on land, now we also have much clearer, more
04:24detailed underwater recordings.
04:27To study the hum, researchers used spherical seismometers on the seafloor in the Indian
04:32Ocean near an island east of Madagascar.
04:36Between September 2012 and November 2013, they placed 57 free-fall seismometers across
04:43a 772-square-mile area.
04:46These devices are designed to sink into the ocean floor and record even the faintest vibrations.
04:52Over the course of the 11-month study, the team filtered out noise from ocean waves and
04:57seafloor currents.
04:58They got clear, consistent signals of Earth's hum, with peaks at frequencies between 2.9
05:04and 4.5 mHz, far below the range of human hearing, which starts at 20 Hz.
05:11The discovery of Earth's hum from the ocean floor is more than just a scientific curiosity.
05:16It gives researchers a new way to study how energy moves through the planet's crust
05:21and mantle.
05:23In any case, the world around us is filled with weird sounds that sometimes remain unexplained.
05:30One of the most intriguing examples is the BLOOM, an incredibly loud underwater sound
05:35recorded in 1997 by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
05:41The sound lasted about a minute and began as a low rumble, which then increased in frequency.
05:47It was so loud that underwater microphones detected it across an astonishing 3,000 miles.
05:54Initially, some experts thought it was the call of a massive unknown sea creature.
05:59However, NOAA later determined that the source likely had been the calving of icebergs, when
06:04giant pieces of Antarctic glaciers had been breaking off and crashing into the sea.
06:10The sound, known as JULIA, a strange cooing noise, could have been produced by an iceberg
06:15scraping along the ocean floor.
06:19Another sound dubbed TRAIN, due to its resemblance to the sound of train wheels on a track, likely
06:25originated in Antarctica's Ross Sea.
06:28Then there is UPSWEEP, a recurring seasonal scratchy noise detected in the Pacific Ocean
06:34since 1991.
06:36Despite years of research, its exact cause remains unclear.
06:42The underwater world also has bizarre sounds that can be described as choirs of fish.
06:49Scientists studying marine life off the coast of Port Hedland in Western Australia discover
06:54that many fish species sing in synchronized choruses at dawn and dusk, much like birds.
07:00Over 18 months, researchers recorded tons of sounds, including foghorn-like calls from
07:06black jewelfish and rhythmic ba-ba-ba sounds from batfish.
07:11These fish songs, which often involve repetitive calls that overlap in large groups, are especially
07:16important for breeding, feeding, and territorial behavior.
07:21Further in the ocean, NOAA researchers also explored the sounds of the Challenger Deep,
07:26the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.
07:29They used a titanium-encased microphone that managed to survive the crushing pressure over
07:34a thousand times the atmospheric pressure at sea level.
07:38Over 23 days, the recorder captured loads of noises, from the haunting songs of whales
07:44to the rumble of distant earthquakes.
07:47Now we've already figured out that the ocean is filled with strange sounds, but you
07:51can also hear weird noises above ground.
07:55One of the most puzzling is the hum, a low-pitched noise reported by people in specific areas
08:01such as Taos, New Mexico, or Bristol, England.
08:04The sound is often described as a faint engine-like drone, and its source remains a mystery.
08:10Some researchers think it might be a psychological phenomenon, where people focus on subtle background
08:16sounds they might otherwise ignore.
08:18In any case, no definitive answer has been found yet.
08:23Geological formations can sing too.
08:26Utah's Rainbow Bridge, a massive 300-foot-high sandstone arch, vibrates like a guitar string
08:33when exposed to sounds, distant earthquakes, or waves near Lake Powell.
08:38Scientists have studied its frequencies to understand how such vibrations could affect
08:42the bridge's stability over time.
08:44Interestingly, visitors to the Rainbow Bridge have reported hearing faint humming sounds
08:49too.
08:51The skies also have their own eerie noises.
08:54For centuries, people in polar regions have described faint sizzling, popping, and cracking
09:00sounds, accompanying auroras.
09:02A Finnish researcher made the first known recordings of these sounds and traced their
09:06origin to electrical discharges in the lower atmosphere, about 230 feet above the ground.
09:12These charges, caused by magnetic storms fueling auroras, produce faint sounds during
09:18calm and clear nights.
09:20Other natural phenomena, such as icebergs grinding against the seafloor or volcanic
09:25activity on the ocean floor, produce groans, rumbles, and crackling sounds that scientists
09:31study to learn about glacial movements and underwater geological activity.
09:35I myself produce many unusual sounds and rumbles, but that's a subject for another video or
09:41my next annual review.