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Scientists have solved the mystery of the "alien" sounds in the deepest place on the planet. Video
Scientists have finally succeeded in solving the mystery of "alien" sounds coming from the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean - the Mariana Trench. This trench, which is about 11,000 meters deep, is one of the most mysterious places on Earth.
The unknown noises of the Mariana Trench were first recorded in 2014. Experts called these sounds "biotwangs", but their source could not be unraveled until now, writes DailyMail.
It is known that the Mariana Trench was discovered by a British expedition on the ship Challenger in 1875. Since then, only a few people have risked diving to a depth of about 11 kilometers into the mysterious V-shaped profile of the trench with steep slopes.
Researchers are scared off by the pressure of the Mariana Trench, which at the bottom reaches 108.6 MPa, which is more than 1,000 times higher than the normal atmospheric pressure at the level of the World Ocean.
From the bottom of the trough come unknown sounds, which are called "alien". Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to dispel all mystical speculations and analyze the unknown noises.
Eerie creaks and howls were first recorded by underwater gliders in 2014, which were used to conduct acoustic surveys of the trench. The sounds, which lasted between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds, included deep moans at a low frequency of up to 38 hertz and at the end of the recording the frequencies increased to 8,000 hertz.
In 2016, a team of scientists from Oregon State University (OSU) suggested that it could be a new type of whale whale whale cry that hadn't been heard before. "The low-frequency moan is typical of a mustached whale, and it's that ringing sound that makes it really unique," Sharon Newkirk, a senior research scientist in the Department of Marine Bioacoustics at Oregon State, noted at the time.
Now scientists have reanalyzed the noises using data from visual and acoustic studies, and their findings suggest the OSU team was one step away from unraveling the unknown ocean sounds. The new study leads scientists to believe the eerie sounds are made by Bryde's whales.
"The sound was thought to be created by a Bryde's whale, but without visual inspection, it was impossible to determine the species. Using a combination of visual and acoustic survey data collected in the Mariana Archipelago, we determined that biotwangs are produced by Bryde's whales," said the research team led by Dr. Ann Allen.
Bryde's whales can be found around the world in warm temperate oceans, including the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, experts say.
Researchers spotted ten whales of the species swimming in the Mariana Trench region and recorded nine of them making distinctive sounds.
"We found a consistent seasonal presence of biotwangs in the Mariana Archipelago and eastward on Wake Island, with occasional appearances as far northwest as Hawaii and near the equator. It's quite possible that the whales are using biotwang as a contact call. But we need more information before we can say for sure," scientists from NOAA summarized.
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