Is the fizzing noise really some kind of shrimp

[RichardS]

Last night we were the only boat anchored in a bay near Split. As the wind died down around 7pm I could hear this fizzing / crackling sound like someone frying bacon under the boat. SWMBO thought it was an electrical short somewhere so I pulled up all the boards to have a look as it was definitely coming from the underwater section of the hulls (catamaran).

There was nothing to see so I decided it must be the antifoul "fizzing" - OK, ridiculous, but I was running out of ideas!

I looked on Google and found a reference to some kind of shrimp which chatters away but we've been in Croatia for 5 years now and I've never heard anything like it before.

My eldest son could not sleep because of the noise. It was amazingly loud and it was still fizzing away this morning so we moved to another bay a couple of hours away and here it is all peace and quiet!

I can't believe that the noise can be shrimps - there would have to be millions of them and why only in that bay?

Could it be an undersea power cable or something?

Has anyone else heard it - literally like someone frying a pan of bacon under the sole boards!

Richard

 

[Seajet]

I've an idea what the fizzling sound is, it may be related to the sound I've heard several times mid-Channel, a Doppler effect of a high power engine coming and going; I think this is related to AIS - Air Indepenent Submersibles - largeish submarines which operate on main diesel engines even when submerged, thanks to stored oxygen.

The 'frying sound' may have been caused by high frequency sensors ( traditionally sub - marine sensors have been very long wave ) - sub' anti' minefield sonar is I believe high frequency, other forumites with more experience will hopefully be along shortly.

 

[l'escargot]

Often put down to the Pistol Shrimp:

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Has anyone else heard it - literally like someone frying a pan of bacon under the sole boards!

Exactly as you describe, when staying in the Seychelles. Found it quite worrying at first but you get used to it

 

[ChrisE]

Last night we were the only boat anchored in a bay near Split. As the wind died down around 7pm I could hear this fizzing / crackling sound like someone frying bacon under the boat. SWMBO thought it was an electrical short somewhere so I pulled up all the boards to have a look as it was definitely coming from the underwater section of the hulls (catamaran).

There was nothing to see so I decided it must be the antifoul "fizzing" - OK, ridiculous, but I was running out of ideas!

I looked on Google and found a reference to some kind of shrimp which chatters away but we've been in Croatia for 5 years now and I've never heard anything like it before.

My eldest son could not sleep because of the noise. It was amazingly loud and it was still fizzing away this morning so we moved to another bay a couple of hours away and here it is all peace and quiet!

I can't believe that the noise can be shrimps - there would have to be millions of them and why only in that bay?

Could it be an undersea power cable or something?

Has anyone else heard it - literally like someone frying a pan of bacon under the sole boards!

Richard

In short, yes. We've heard whenever we've been in somewhere hot.

 

[Mrs Springy]

We've heard it many times, in UK waters and on occasions during our travels through France, Spain, Portugal and the Med.

HWMBO has always told me that it's caused by shrimps but I'm yet to be persuaded by this explanation.

It's weird, it's loud....but I don't know what causes it.

Sounds a bit 'snap, crackle and pop' to me. Underwater Rice Crispies???

 

[photodog]

Polyestermites chewing the grp.

 

[mjcoon]

Often put down to the Pistol Shrimp...

That's what I've always understood. But since I can't swim I've never been tempted to swim at night to see if anything can be seen or heard in the water.

Now shallow depth waterproof cameras are ten-a-penny perhaps someone could try flash photos while the noise can be heard...

Mike.

 

[nigelmercier]

Mussels opening and closing. When I first heard it I wasn't sure if it was a fire or running water, kept me awake all night.

 

[John.edwards]

lying in the shallows on a greek beach, with the back of my head in the water I could feel the clicking and popping through the base of my skull. quite an exhilarating experience...like a whole body massage. and yes it is invertebrate animals, including shrimp.

 

[ytd]

it's shrimp/prawns/langostiens? Many stun their prey with a loud noise. That is the crack you can hear. even tiny species feeding on hull slime can make quite loud noises.

 

[Grehan]

Stranger than fiction

It's those shrimps.

 

[stuarta]

I've an idea what the fizzling sound is, it may be related to the sound I've heard several times mid-Channel, a Doppler effect of a high power engine coming and going; I think this is related to AIS - Air Indepenent Submersibles - largeish submarines which operate on main diesel engines even when submerged, thanks to stored oxygen.

The 'frying sound' may have been caused by high frequency sensors ( traditionally sub - marine sensors have been very long wave ) - sub' anti' minefield sonar is I believe high frequency, other forumites with more experience will hopefully be along shortly.

I very much doubt that it is related to AIS submarines. These are quite different to main diesel engines and normally use fuel cells, often based on bioethanol.

You are correct that anti-mine sonars are higher frequency than traditional submarine sonars but they are not regularly used. As a result of the high frequency they are very short range. Additionally, even a small SSK (Conventional diesel-electric) submarine is unlikely to operate in water shallower than 20m and a SSN (Nuclear) will have his "No-Go" line drawn at 30m. Not to say they couldn't operate in shallower water in extremis but bearing in mind the height of an SSN is about 20m that doesn't leave much room to play with.

I would think that the fizzing is indeed some kind of shrimp. Anyone that has spent any time listening to the sounds of the ocean on a sonar knows there are some very strange, and loud, noises out there. "Snapping Shrimp", "Capenter Fish" to name a couple!

 

[Salty John]

Krill.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I have no idea what it is and have never heard it but a submarine that makes such noises would not survive very long?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Those shrimp must be the aquatic version of cicadas - rugger ball to look at but can be heard at a thousand paces.

 

[jimi]

Its the eropean caldera heating up at thin places in the earth's crust

 

[Twister_Ken]

Its the eropean caldera heating up at thin places in the earth's crust

Boiled shrimp, then?

 

[KevO]

Shrimps and other small crustacea... hear them all the time while warm water diving... a constant background snap crackle and pop. Confirmed by a Dr of marine zoology from the Nat History museum when we were diving together surveying the coral reefs in the Andaman for tsunami damage in 05. Noisy little devils aren't they

 

[bromleybysea]

yep, shrimps it is. We first encountered them in a dock in Lisbon- had us worried for a night or two 'till a yank biologist on a nearby boat gave us chapter and verse on the little critters.