In the News
Sample science: Ocean explorers search for methane off the Oregon Coast
After three weeks of scanning and sampling for methane seeping out along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, researchers aboard the Nautilus pulled into the Port of Astoria on Friday with their findings. Tamara Baumberger and Bob Dziak are quoted.
Researchers listen to methane bubbles off Oregon coast
CORVALLIS, Ore. - A research team has successfully recorded the sound of methane bubbles from the seafloor off the Oregon coast using a hydrophone, opening the door to using acoustics to identify – and perhaps quantify – this important greenhouse gas in the ocean. Bob Dziak is quoted.
Snapping Shrimp 'Dinner Bell' May Tell Gray Whales When to Eat
Do you ever wish you could just snap your fingers and have dinner ready? Well, that dream is kind of a reality for one species of whale. Joe Haxel is quoted.
Submarine volcanoes add to ocean soundscape
Most volcanoes erupt beneath the ocean, but scientists know little about them compared to what they know about volcanoes that eject their lava on dry land. Gabrielle Tepp of the Alaska Volcano Observatory and the U.S. Geological Survey thinks that with improved monitoring, scientists can learn more about these submarine eruptions, which threaten travel and alter the ocean soundscape.
NOAA on Ocean Sounds
NOAA scientists record sound in the deepest part of the world’s ocean and discover a cacophony of sounds both natural and human generated. For three weeks, a titanium-encased hydrophone recorded ambient noise from the ocean floor at a depth of more than 36,000 feet, or 7 miles, in the Challenger Deep trough in the Mariana Trench near Micronesia.