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Julia
A 15-second sound like a creature moaning or cooing. Detected by NOAA hydrophones. Likely an iceberg dragging on the seafloor. But for a moment, we heard something that sounded almost alive.
March 1, 1999
Pacific Ocean
0 Julia sounded eerily biological.
The Sound
March 1, 1999:
- 15 seconds duration
- Cooing/moaning quality
- Low frequency
- Multiple stations detected
- Equatorial Pacific Region Autonomous Hydrophone Array
The Name
Why Julia:
- NOAA naming convention
- After location/date
- Became mysterious
- Captured imagination
- Simple origin
The Theory
Scientific explanation:
- Large iceberg
- Ran aground
- Scraping seafloor
- Created vibration
- Case closed
The Appeal
Why remembered:
- Biological quality
- Creature-like
- Mystery of deep
- Before explanation
- Imagination ran wild
Other Unexplained
NOAA sounds:
- Bloop
- Upsweep
- Slow Down
- Train
- Each initially mysterious
The Deep
What remains:
- Most ocean unexplored
- Sounds travel
- Things live down there
- We don’t know what
- Julia was ice