Besides zombies, one of my greatest fears in life is to be caught somewhere in middle of an ocean. Alone. And at night. Naked.

Well, no. Not the naked part. But I do have a deep fear for what lies in the…well, in the deep. It’s not so much that I fear whales and sharks or any other creature with razor sharp teeth and razor sharp tentacles. I  think what really scares me is knowing that the nearest piece of solid earth is miles and miles below me. As if I was to be suspended miles and miles above the streets of Los Angeles. Dangling in the sky, with nothing to grab on to.

It’s been said that space is the final frontier. So I guess that makes the world’s oceans the penultimate frontier.

Who knows what really lies beneath all those millions of metric tons of pressure. What organisms thrive down there, or what creatures survive down there? If there are any big creatures in the deepest of marine trenches, then I would assume that these things are some badass looking creatures. Something so big and so terrifying, that it makes killer whales look like some ying-yang guppies.

There have been several underwater recordings by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration that defy explanation. The six mysterious recordings have baffled researchers and scientists for years. Many believe that these sounds can be attributed to geological phenomena, while others hint at the possibility of the sounds coming from an unknown creature who lurks in the darkness of the abyss.

The Bloop

In 1997, researchers  at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded a mysterious sound coming from the deep waters just below the  South America’s tip. The sound was nothing like they’ve ever heard before. It was not a bomb blast or a submarine. Nor was it a whale or a geological event; like an underwater earthquake or volcano. The NOAA is familiar with all these types of “normal chatter”. The sound heard in 1997 was heard as far out as 5,000 km. It was so strange, that they saved the recording and referred to is as the “Bloop”.

The sound was in ultra-low frequency, and lasted around a minute. It’s believed to be several times louder than that of the blue whale. Which have been recorded as the loudest animal in the world.

Dr. Christopher Fox of the NOAA believed that the sound could be linked to breaking gigantic glaciers in Antarctica. Others believe that it is too similar to that of known animals. No explanation has been found since.

Coordinates: 50° 0′ 0″ S, 100° 0′ 0″ W

Upsweep, Julia, Slow Down, & Train

The equatorial autonomous hydrophone arrays recorded a “long train of narrow-band upsweeping sounds of several seconds duration each.” They were heard across the entire Pacific Ocean. Although the sounds are said to be seasonal, they have been diminishing since 1991. Named “Upsweep”, this sound still remains unexplained.

Coordinates: 54° 0′ 0″ S, 140° 0′ 0″ W

On March 1, 1999, NOAA microphones tune in on a strange moan-like sound. Lasting about fifteen seconds, the sound originated from the equatorial Pacific Ocean. They named it “Julia”, its source has remained unknown.

Coordinates: 15° 0′ 0″ S, 98° 0′ 0″ W

The Julia sound wasn’t the only unknown recording from that part of the Pacific. Two years earlier, NOAA had recorded a seven minute mysterious sound that decreased in frequency. Slow Down–properly named– has been heard several times since 1997. Making Slow Down the unusual, unusual sound.

This has many researchers believing that its origin is more than likely geological. A shifting tectonic plate or moving ice.

Coordinate: 15° 0′ 0″ S, 115° 0′ 0″ W

The same year as the Slow Down recording, once again the equatorial microphones picked up an anomalous sound. on March 5, 1997 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array, the recording of a rising strange sound was captured. Known as the “Train“, the sound has not been heard since.

Whistle

July 7, 1997 another strange sound was heard in the Pacific Ocean. Although just a bit north from the equatorial recordings, this sound is just as mysterious. Lasting for about one minute the strange recording was dubbed the “Whistle”.

Coordinates: 8° 0′ 0″ N, 110° 0′ 0″ W

We’ve yet to identify the sources of these mysterious sounds undulating from the depths of the Pacific. Of course, that doesn’t mean that these sounds are from some Kraken-like creature. Although the explanation of the sounds being something geological tend to make more sense, it still leaves a dissatisfying feeling in my mind.The NOAA admits that these sounds are unlike anything they’ve ever recorded. No volcanic, seismic or known animal sound has ever matched the powerful groans that were heard in a radius of five thousand kilometers. The Bloop is reported to have similar characteristics of the sounds a blue whale could emit. Only several times louder.

This penultimate frontier can be cold, dark, and deep. Who knows, it might even harbor extraterrestrial creatures. Just like the final one is said to have.