THE ARCTIC: an Odd Pinging Noise, that seems to be
coming from… the Sea Floor!
Jean-Michel Roche
If you believe in the
Kraken, take notes.
The Canadian military is
investigating a strange pinging noise emerging from the sea floor close to a
remote outpost located in the Arctic.
The Canadian Armed Forces
sent out a crew to examine the reports of the mysterious pinging noise that
appears to come from the sea floor.
According to CBC News, the
inhabitants in the isolated community in Igloolik, Nunavut have been hearing a
noise during the summer.
They have not found an
identifiable cause.
The Canadian Armed Forces
stated that they are taking the appropriate steps to investigate the situation.
The noise has been
described sounding like different things like a beep, hum, and a ping.
This has been heard in the
Fury and Hecla Strait, around 75 miles northwest of Igloolik for several months
now.
Cumberland
Peninsula of Baffin Island, aerial photo by Doc Searls.
A military patrol aircraft
had been sent to investigate the area on November 1st.
A statement to a British
newspaper from department spokeswoman Ashley Lemire stated that different
multisensor searches have been completed in the area.
This included a 1.5-hour
sonar search that failed to detect any anomalies.
She also stated that the
crew didn’t detect any subsurface or surface contacts; at this time the
Department of National Defense doesn’t intend to complete any further
investigations.
The region of a thinly
dispersed population is known to be inhabited by many sea mammals during warmer
times, but they are often times hunted by the local Inuits.
These hunters have been
hearing the ominous sounds for some time now, and they said that it seems to be
scaring the wildlife away.
People who visit the area
on private yachts are also reporting hearing the mysterious pinging noise.
It appears that this noise
can be heard close to the surface of the water, but also through the hull of
boats.
Northwest Passage routes
CBC News noted that their
reporters have not heard any of the noises themselves.
They don’t have any more
information from those that have alleged to hear the sound.
Yet, it’s no surprise that
several theories related to the origin of the noise have come up during the
wake of the first reports.
One of them is that the
Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation is to blame even though plenty of sonar
surveys have been conducted in the region lately.
Ecological activists are
saying there might be some confused local whales and narwhal populations.
Sonar is something that
mining companies use to make a detailed map of the sea floor while they are
searching for offshore gas and oil.
Sonar is known to disturb
marine life such as dolphins and whales.
Even so, the Baffinland
Iron Mines Corporations, which has performed surveys nearby, stated to CBC that
they have no equipment in the water at this time.
The local government has
stated that they have not issued any territorial permits to companies or groups
for any hydrographic or construction work to be done in the region.
Some have proposed that
Greenpeace may be deploying underwater sonar emissions to scare aquatic life
away, mainly so that the Inuit can’t hunt them.
A spokesperson from the
group denied this accusation while talking with CBC News.
It was noted that they
respect the rights of the Inuit people who engage in such hunting.
The Department of National
Defense noted that submarines passing through the area have not been ruled out,
but they’re very unlikely to be the cause of the noise.
Igloolik is just 43 miles
away from an active military base, so if secret military experiments are one of
your favorite kinds of conspiracy theories, then there could be something to
latch on to.
A map showing Cumberland
Sound and nearby areas.
This hasn’t been the first
strange noise that the Canadian government has been asked to investigate.
For years, there has been a
low rumbling sound known as the Windsor Hum that has plagued the residents of
Windsor, Ontario.
At this time, research into
this other noise has failed to discover the origin, IFLScience reported.
But for now, the noise is
still not explained.
It’s definitely not the
Cthulhu, though.
