To relax and reduce stress, it is recommended to regularly go for a walk in the forest and listen to the sounds of nature. If this is not possible, you can simply turn on the singing of birds and the sound of waves on your smartphone or laptop from time to time – the positive effect will also be noticeable. They are also believed to help concentrate on work, which can be used by people who constantly put off important things until later. But not all sounds of nature have a calming effect. There are many animals that communicate with each other so loudly that they can damage human hearing. We present to your attention a selection of the ten loudest animals on Earth. Some facts may surprise you.
The lion is one of the loudest animals in the world, but there are louder animals
Contents
- 1 Sounds of a blue whale
- 2 What sounds does a sperm whale make
- 3 Sounds of flying mice
- 4 The loudest insects in the world
- 5 The claws of click crayfish
- 6 The volume of a lion's roar
- 7 The loudest monkeys
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Sounds of a blue whale
Blue whales are known for being the largest living animals. There is also a possibility that these are the heaviest creatures that have ever lived on Earth. The body length of a blue whale can exceed 30 meters and its weight can reach 150 tons.
There is a possibility that blue whales are also the loudest animals in the world. They communicate with each other using booming songs with a volume of up to 188 decibels. These sounds are louder than the roar of a jet engine, and can easily damage a person's eardrums.
The record for the loudest voice belongs to blue whales. Image source: dictionary.cambridge.org
Scientists believe that blue whales need such loud signals in order to communicate over long distances. Considering that these are solitary animals that only come together to mate, this ability is very useful. Calculations show that the voices of blue whales can be heard at a distance of up to 1,600 kilometers.
Read also:Scientists were able to “talk” to a whale for the first time – the conversation lasted 20 minutes.
What sounds does a sperm whale make?
Sperm whales are marine mammals that belong to the order of toothed whales. The body length of sperm whales is approximately 20 meters, and their weight can reach 40 tons.
Sperm whales are capable of diving to depths of up to 3,050 meters and making loud clicking noises that are similar to Morse code signals. The volume of these clicks can reach 230 decibels. These are louder calls than blue whales, but they last only a few seconds.
Sperm whales communicate using loud clicks. Image source: world-of-adventures.ru
These clicks are not only necessary for communication, but are also necessary for detecting prey during the hunt. Having made a click, the sperm whale sends a sound wave into space, which is reflected from potential prey and returns back. This is how the marine mammal understands where to swim. In this way, sperm whales often catch giant squids, the length of which can reach 14 meters.
Sounds of bats
Surprisingly, bats also have a very loud voice. An example is the large harelip, which “chirps” at a volume of up to 140 decibels. It produces sounds at a frequency that cannot be detected by human hearing, but if we heard them, it would be comparable to the pop of a gun shot. Using high-frequency sounds, the bat communicates with relatives and tracks down fish.
The great harelip bat. Image source: ecoportal.su
Unexpected scientific discovery:Bats pretend to be wasps – why do they do this?
The loudest insects in the world
Cicadas are considered the loudest insects in the world. These flying creatures emerge from the ground to mate every few years—in 2024, the United States is expected to experience one of the largest outbreaks of these insects on record.
Cicadas make loud noises to attract mates. Image source: animalzoom.ru
Male cicadas produce loud chirping sounds using thymbal organs on their abdomen. They oscillate, resulting in a noise that attracts the attention of females. African cicadas of the species Brevisana brevis are capable of producing a sound with a volume of 107 decibels. In 2003, it was found that cicadas warm up before making sounds – perhaps they have to rely on muscle strength.
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Click crayfish claws
Unusual shrimp of the species Synalpheus pinkfloydi live in the waters of the Pacific coast of Panama. Discovered in 2017, these creatures belong to the family of click crayfish and have a huge claw, with which they create cotton with a power of up to 210 decibels. It is believed that when the claw closes quickly, a small bubble is formed, which bursts and creates a sonic boom. With the help of this weapon, shrimp kill small fish, which they subsequently feed on.
The click crayfish Synalpheus pinkfloydi was named after the band Pink Floyd. Image source: wikipedia.org
It is believed that click crayfish, with the help of their claws, can heat water up to 4000 degrees.
The volume of a lion's roar
You can probably imagine how the lions roar – you remember the screensaver before the Tom and Jerry cartoons? The lion's roar is the loudest of any cat, estimated at 114 decibels. You can hear the roar of a lion at a distance of 8 kilometers. It is believed that they scream so loudly due to their flat larynx, which allows air to pass through them extremely easily.
A lion's roar can be heard at a distance of several kilometers. Image source: animaljournal.ru
Male lions roar to indicate their dominance. And lionesses scream to scare away uninvited guests. Both sexes also growl to communicate with each other. The roar of each individual is unique; in 2020, scientists developed an algorithm for recognizing individuals by their sounds with an accuracy of 91.5%.
The Loudest Monkeys
The rain and mountain forests of Central and South America are home to the loudest primates, the howler monkeys. They are capable of screaming at a volume of up to 90 decibels – their roar can be heard at a distance of 4.8 kilometers. In 2015, it became known that the tone of voice of male howler monkeys depends on the size of their testicles; the larger they are, the softer the voice.
Howler monkey. Image source: pofoto.club
German explorer Robert Schomburg once described the roar of these animals as “terrible.” According to him, when he walked towards the frightening sounds, he saw many monkeys in the trees. They made sounds that resembled either the grunt of a pig or the roar of a jaguar.
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Finally, it is worth noting that in 2022, a loud sound was heard in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. What is this: the roar of a huge animal, or some kind of natural phenomenon?