Seismometers record low frequency ground motion from geological origin (earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers), biological sources (marine mammal vocalizations) and human-made noise (marine traffic, trains, cars). These low frequency noises are below the human audible range, termed infrasound.
The following audiovisuals were recorded from seismometers (ocean and land based). The waveforms have been sped up ~1000 times to become audible. Samples currently included are from seismometers along the Northeast Pacific Ocean (offshore-nearshore Washington and Cape Mendocino, California) and in Eastern Canada (Lower St. Lawrence Seaway).
Enjoy eavesdropping on the seismic soundscape!
Northeast Pacific Ocean
High quality Northeast Pacific blue whale calls ...
Series of Northeast Pacific blue whale calls (including types A, B, C) vocalized at the same time as consistent ship noise.
Ocean bottom seismometer J53A (X km offshore Washington) on December 13 2011 at XX:XX:XX-XX:XX:XX.
Magnitude 3.63 earthquake with an epicenter X km away from seismometer.
Land seismometer CM09A (Cape Mendocino, California) on December 29 2014 at XX:XX:XX-XX:XX:XX.
Northeast Pacific fin whale doublet calls. Listen closely to notice the slightly alternating frequencies!
Ocean bottom seismometer FN14A (X km offshore Washington) on December 14 2011 at 15:00:00-15:05:00 UTC.
Northeast Pacific fin whale singlet calls.
Ocean bottom seismometer FN07A (X km offshore Washington) on December 14 2011 at 15:00:00-15:05:00 UTC.
Lower St. Lawrence Seaway, Eastern Canada
Thanks for listening! If you have any questions, or ideas, please reach out!
Thank you!
External resources if you would like to learn more about ocean noise :)
https://eos.org/features/oceanic-cacophony
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