Those who know about the Mariana Trench most likely are aware of it because it contains the deepest spot in the planet. This phenomenon is located just East of the Philippines. It is over 1,000 miles long and 7 miles deep. It remained an unknown blemish to the ocean floor until the H.M.S Challenger went to go explore it in 1875. The members aboard that exploration could only measure the Mariana Trench’s depth up to five miles, due to a lack of appropriate equipment. In 1951, another excursion was sent to determine the entire depth of the trench. This one was successful.
The experience that humanity has with the Mariana Trench is still somewhat limited, as only two people have ever been able to reach its bottom. These two were the explorers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, who completed the dive in 1960. They spent hours reaching their destination, and were only able to spend 20 minutes on the ocean floor before they had to be pulled back to the surface. Despite the short length of their stay, both men were able to discern that, indeed, life exists at that depth.
It is therefore not as surprising as one would think that it was recently discovered that the Mariana Trench is, indeed, a noisy place. However, most of this noise is not caused by the marine life.
Many different organizations, such as researchers from the NOAA, researchers from Oregon State University, and even the United States Coast Guard have been able to record sound from the Mariana Trench. Researchers from the NOAA were able to discover that much of the sound deep in the ocean stems from moving tectonic plates, which prompt earthquakes, and noises made by whales. Also discernable, surprisingly, were the noises of ships passing over the Trench, bringing materials to the nearby Guam.
In 2015, the researchers finally put a hydrophone into the Mariana Trench in order to detect sound over long periods of time. It listened to every sounds for 23 days, and was examined accordingly.
Future research in the Mariana Trench is necessary to really be aware of what is occurring in the deepest point of the earth. Since the only two men able to make it to the bottom of the Trench had disturbed the ocean floor too much to take photos, we still do not have accurate photographic evidence of that point. Researchers are planning to attempt the dive again. However, first they will send another hydrophone down for a longer period of time, with a camera attached. I wait in anticipation of what it will find.
