I came here hoping someone would mention this, it's really strange and for a while I had just attributed it to the Air Force base traffic or Tampa International nearby, but it keeps coming up. Always interesting to learn more
Seems like very misleading science reporting. It relies on the wow factor of a 12mm fish producing a sound as loud as what many people would associate with a jet engine (>140db).
- Sound levels are usually assumed to be measured 1m away. For the fish, it’s measured one body length away (inverse square law applies)
- Jet engines are often measured from many meters away (again inverse square law)
- The fish’s sound is pulsed and lasts only 2.5ms, while jet engine noise is continuous.
- The frequency emitted by the fish “exceeds 20kHz”. The frequency range of a jet engine spans almost the entire range of human hearing.
- Standing next to one might startle you a bit, the other will irreversibly damage you.
I don't think so and I don't see any mention of it being compared to a jet engine.
The article compares it to a sledgehammer, ambulance siren or a gunshot. A gunshot of which is not a continuous sound.
Regardless, it is impressive that a 12mm fish can produce such a loud sound regardless of whether it is continuous and/or throughout our frequency range of hearing.
It really does matter how far away the sound measurement is taken. 12mm vs. 1000mm away is not trivial for this "decibel" number to make any sense, contextually.
140dB at 12mm is equivalent to 100db at 1000mm. So that's 20dB less than an "ambulance" or "jackhammer" as listed here[0]. Which definitely would make the article misleading.
I only knew that I had one in my tank because I would hear the loud "crack" at night. Luckily it was the shrimp making the noise, not the glass breaking.
Months later when I drained the tank to move into a new house, and removed all the live rock I found it dead at the bottom. Amazing that such a tiny thing can make so much noise.
Readit News
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- Sound levels are usually assumed to be measured 1m away. For the fish, it’s measured one body length away (inverse square law applies)
- Jet engines are often measured from many meters away (again inverse square law)
- The fish’s sound is pulsed and lasts only 2.5ms, while jet engine noise is continuous.
- The frequency emitted by the fish “exceeds 20kHz”. The frequency range of a jet engine spans almost the entire range of human hearing.
- Standing next to one might startle you a bit, the other will irreversibly damage you.
The article compares it to a sledgehammer, ambulance siren or a gunshot. A gunshot of which is not a continuous sound.
Regardless, it is impressive that a 12mm fish can produce such a loud sound regardless of whether it is continuous and/or throughout our frequency range of hearing.
140dB at 12mm is equivalent to 100db at 1000mm. So that's 20dB less than an "ambulance" or "jackhammer" as listed here[0]. Which definitely would make the article misleading.
0: https://noiseawareness.org/info-center/common-noise-levels/
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Months later when I drained the tank to move into a new house, and removed all the live rock I found it dead at the bottom. Amazing that such a tiny thing can make so much noise.
Mantis shrimp are exotic terrors of the deep you don't exactly forget you have.
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