Researchers hoping to better understand fish distributions by recording the sounds they make have picked up something unusual: barely-audible, cricket-like noises they think could be nighttime fish farts.
The team programmed a torpedo-shaped robot called a glider to head out to sea from Tampa Bay, Florida, and back, running up and down the water column in a saw-tooth pattern, sampling ocean sounds for 25 seconds every 5 minutes.
The probable farts were recorded shallower than 40 meters and were most likely groups of fish, such as menhaden or herring, releasing gas from swim bladders.
The team programmed a torpedo-shaped robot called a glider to head out to sea from Tampa Bay, Florida, and back, running up and down the water column in a saw-tooth pattern, sampling ocean sounds for 25 seconds every 5 minutes.
The probable farts were recorded shallower than 40 meters and were most likely groups of fish, such as menhaden or herring, releasing gas from swim bladders.
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