Scientists think they have finally solved the mystery of the unexplained noises coming from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. For the first time, the eerie sounds were heard from the Mariana Trench, where the deepest known point on Earth is located, 10 years ago, writes the BBC, quoted by bTV.
Experts have long suspected that the sounds might be made by an underwater creature, but they weren't sure.
Now, thanks to artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered what the reason is.
What did they find?
Strange sounds were first recorded in the Mariana Trench in 2014. Scientists describe the noise as a low growl followed by high pitched tones.
Researchers suspected that whales might be behind the noise, but the sounds didn't match any known whale sounds.
So experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to turn to artificial intelligence to help solve the mystery.
They use artificial intelligence technology to listen to over 200,000 hours of audio recordings of various ocean sounds.
Their research found that the noise was made by Bryde's whales, which live in warm and tropical waters and are known for always being on the move.
Experts believe the whales use the signals to find each other as they travel underwater.
What is the Mariana Trench?
The Mariana Trench is a deep and long underwater canyon located in the western Pacific Ocean, south of Japan.
It contains the deepest known point on Earth, and its depth is almost 11 km, which means it could fit the whole of Everest.
Only four people have reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
In 2019, American researcher Victor Vescovo spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench.
The depth of the dive was later confirmed to be 10,972m and Victor broke the previous record by 11m to become the first person to reach the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean.