Scientists Decode Mysterious Ghost Sounds Near Abandoned Lighthouses | WION Podcast
Why It Matters
Knowing the acoustic signatures and ranges of humpback exhalations can help locate and protect whales, reduce vessel collisions, and improve marine soundscape monitoring—while underscoring how overlooked natural signals might complicate searches for novel phenomena.
Summary
Researchers have identified the eerie, thunder-like noises heard in and around isolated lighthouses in Southeast Alaska as powerful exhalations—sighs or sneezes—from humpback whales. A team led by SETI biologist Fred Sharp studied sounds heard at the Five Finger Lighthouse in Frederick Sound and found whale blows can travel up to five miles and vibrate structures, producing mechanical, low-frequency rumbling. The discovery not only demystifies local folklore about haunted lighthouses but also provides a method to trace the source regions of these whales. Sharp and collaborators note the broader implications for acoustic monitoring and even analogies to searching for hard-to-detect signals in other domains.
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