Strange Noises Disturb San Francisco Residents

Strange Noises Disturb San Francisco Residents

By Mr Ghaz, July 25, 2010

Image Credit

Strange Noises Disturb San Francisco Residents

Image Credit

In September 1985, houseboat residents in the exclusive Richardson Bay area across from San Francisco began to suffer from a mysterious complaint. Many could not sleep at night; others developed chronic headaches. All complained about a persistent humming, a noise that occurred only at night.

Image Credit

‘It’s like 10 electric razors running at once,’ said one resident. ‘A powerful generator,’ confirmed another. Harbormaster Ted Rose stressed the seriousness of the problem. ‘Sometimes it gets so loud you have to talk above it. It can drown out conversations and wake people from a dead sleep.’

A Mystery is Solved

Image Credit

Image Credit

Suggestions were plentiful as to the cause of the strange nocturnal noise: a diesel generator, sewer pumps, underground electrical power lines. But none of these theories made much sense, for the noise was coming not from the land but from underwater. Acoustical engineers from the University of California at Berkeley were called in and, with the help of instruments and a diver, finally located the source of the sound.

Image Credit

What was keeping the citizens of Richardson Bay awake was a fish – the singing toadfish, also known as the plainfin midshipman.

Image Credit

Many members of the toadfish family produce sounds of one kind or another, but the plainfin midshipman, or Porichtys notatus, is easily the most spectacular. An ugly-looking creature with a short, thickset body and a wide, flattened head, it produces its characteristic hum by vibrating the muscles of its air bladder.

Love Songs

Image Credit

Why the toadfish makes this noise is not fully understood. But do know that only the male ‘sings.’ The call, which is makes only between September and April, is believed to be part of the courtship ritual and may serve to warn off other males as well. When threatened or frightened, the fish also emits loud grunts or burping sounds.

Image Credit

The plainfin midshipman is not alone in these peculiar abilities. The male oyster toadfish produces a characteristic whistle; the electric catfish hisses; the horse mackerel grunts like a pig; the trunkfishes and puffers growl like dogs; and the family of fish known as drums creak, hum, purr and whistle loudly enough to be heard from the deck of a ship directly above them.

Image Credit

These are all perfectly natural phenomena, however, and the residents of Richardson Bay just had to learn to live with the noise.

Image Credit