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A puzzling pattern on the ocean floor...

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It absolutely did not look natural

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in any way, shape or form.

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...a war time battle against an unlikely foe...

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The Navy was crippled by this strange bacon frying sound.

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...and a terrifying tale of a real life sea serpent.

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They had never run into a creature like this before.

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These are the Mysteries at the Museum.

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Orlando, Florida, is home

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to the 400-foot-tall Ferris wheel known

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as the Orlando Eye.

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This iconic structure offers stunning views

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of central Florida for as far as 50 miles,

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and not far away is Orlando's most unusual attraction--

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Skeletons Museum of Osteology.

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Dedicated to the study of bones,

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this collection of more than 500 real animal skeletons

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includes a two-toed sloth from South America,

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a Sumatran white rhinoceros,

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and the world's largest rodent, the capybara.

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But among these exotic creatures

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that walked on land is one specimen

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that plumbed the ocean's depths.

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The artifact is about 11 feet tall.

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It is off-white color made of calcified bone.

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It is smooth to the touch.

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This extraordinary skull recalls a mythical creature

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that tormented sailors on the high seas.

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This is a story about a sea captain,

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a legendary monster,

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and the debate left in its wake.

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August 6, 1848,

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in the South Atlantic.

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Captain Peter McQuhae is the commander of the HMS Daedalus .

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McQuhae was a sea captain that had

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an impeccable reputation-- he ran a very tight ship,

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and he was a no-nonsense type of guy.

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McQuhae's ship is en route from the East Indies

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to its home port in England.

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Three hundred miles off the southern coast of Africa,

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the captain is alerted to something off

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the vessel's starboard side.

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There in the water is a massive creature

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unlike anything he has ever seen.

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The leviathan

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is more than 60 feet long,

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has a slender, serpentine body, and is dark brown in color,

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but the most frightening characteristic of all

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is the creature's massive head,

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which protrudes from the water with its jaws agape.

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Captain McQuhae had seen everything...

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but he hadn't seen this.

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For centuries, sailors have told stories

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of monstrous creatures that lurk in the depths of the ocean.

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Some have even been said

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to sink entire ships and devour their crews.

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Like many others, Captain McQuhae has always

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assumed such tales to be little more than myths,

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but now, with just such a monster alongside his ship,

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the legends seem all too real.

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He had heard about these stories,

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but he had never run into a creature like this before.

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Then, as suddenly as it appeared,

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the creature vanishes beneath the waves.

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When the Daedalus docks in England,

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the captain and crew share the story

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of their bizarre encounter.

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And soon, all of London buzzes with speculation.

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The news was an absolute sensation.

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The creature becomes known as the Daedalus Sea Serpent.

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But as public fascination grows,

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some doubt the veracity of McQuhae's tale.

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A fellow ship captain claims the beast was nothing more

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than an enormous clump of seaweed.

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but McQuhae insists that what he saw

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was no tangle of plants.

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A seaweed didn't have a defined body,

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a head, and eyes.

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An English biologist suggests that what the men saw

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was just a particularly large elephant seal,

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a creature which has been known to reach 15 feet in length,

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but McQuhae swears that what he and his men witnessed

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was much larger than a big seal.

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He knew by the sheer size of the sea creature

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that there's no way it could have been an elephant seal.

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As the story spreads,

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artists and illustrators create their own

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terrifying depictions of the monstrous serpent,

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and McQuhae goes to his grave insisting

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that he and his crew had indeed encountered a sea monster.

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It remains one of the strangest mysteries of the high seas,

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but more than 160 years after the sighting,

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new information emerges that may finally

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shed light on the case.

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A distant connection was about to change

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everything we knew about this monster.

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It's 2015 in Chicago.

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Evolutionary biologist, Dr. Gary J. Galbreath,

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has long been captivated by the tale of the Daedalus Sea Monster.

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He had heard this story his entire life,

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so he's fascinated with the stories.

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One day, he is going through the diary

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of a lieutenant stationed on board the Daedalus

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when a sketch of the creature catches his attention.

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Unlike other drawings from the time,

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this one, drawn by an actual eyewitness,

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depicts the serpent with a distinct dorsal fin.

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The sketch showing the dorsal fin

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pretty much ruled out that it could be any type of serpent.

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The drawing shows the creature

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swimming on its side.

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Based on this information, Galbreath theorizes

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the sea serpent was actually a whale,

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but not just any whale-- he suggests this one

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was a rare and little known species called

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the sei whale.

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The sei whales are known

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as the fastest whales in the sea.

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And their appearance is strikingly different

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from other whales.

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Sei whales are dark brown

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with a distinct long, slender body

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that can reach up to 55 feet in length,

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characteristics that match

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the descriptions of the Daedalus Sea Serpent.

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Not only that, sei whales are known

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to swim on their sides as they feed on the surface.

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To Galbreath, it's conclusive proof

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that what the men of the Daedalus saw

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was no monster.

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With the sei whale on its side swimming with its mouth open

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and feeding, it looks like an intimidating sea serpent!

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It was the perfect match.

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Today, this preserved skull of a sei whale

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is on display at Skeletons Museum of Osteology

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in Orlando, Florida.

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It recalls the legendary sea monster

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that turned out to be nothing more

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than a gentle giant.

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Washington state's Puget Sound

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is known for its dramatic inlets, rocky islands,

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and mountain views.

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Every day, more than two million gallons of fresh water

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flow through this scenic estuary.

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And celebrating an unusual aspect

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of the region's maritime heritage

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is the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum.

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The collection documents

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the history of the Navy's undersea operations.

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On display is a re-creation of the control room

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from the Cold War submarine the USS Greenling,

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the Howell torpedo -- the first self-propelled torpedo

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to be mass-produced by the U.S. military --

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and the Subhuman II, which was once

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the fastest human-powered submarine in the world.

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But among these hulking artifacts

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is one tiny object that tells an incredible story.

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MALLOY: It's about 4 1/2 inches in diameter,

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metallic, and round in shape.

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It has a hard-rubber outer shell,

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and two cords coming out of one end.

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In its day, it was a highly advanced piece of technology.

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WILDMAN: This underwater microphone

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is linked to an extraordinary tale

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of a miniscule creature that played an oversized part

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in the world's greatest conflict.

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In war, your biggest allies might be practically invisible.

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WILDMAN: It's 1942.

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The U.S. has just entered World War II,

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and the military is on high alert.

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Submarines patrol the Pacific

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to protect the American fleet in the vast ocean.

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And to listen for Japanese ships and subs,

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the U.S. relies heavily upon a new technology...

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...sound navigation and ranging,

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better known as sonar.

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The system can pick up

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the propeller sounds of enemy vessels

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from miles away.

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MALLOY: Sonar was used to see and find things underwater.

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And, in the world's largest oceans,

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sonar is basically the difference

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between being blindfolded or having night-vision goggles.

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WILDMAN: One day, the crew of a submarine

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submerged off the coast of the Dutch East Indies

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detects something peculiar.

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A constant, crackling hum

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that drowns out all of the other sonar sounds,

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making it impossible to detect enemy vessels.

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Soon, submarines across the Pacific

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report encountering the same noise.

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And crews say it sounds like the crackling of a frying pan,

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and it's rendering their sonar useless.

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WILDMAN: Examination of the submarines' sonar systems

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reveals the noise is not a technical glitch.

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But the Navy cannot figure out what the sound is

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or where it's coming from.

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So they call in a marine biologist from California

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named Dr. Martin W. Johnson.

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He was the top scientist in oceanography at the time.

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He was a passionate guy and very respected.

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WILDMAN: And when Johnson first hears the sound,

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he's also baffled.

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MALLOY: This odd noise was as mysterious to Johnson

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as it was to the Navy.

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So his number-one goal was to figure out what this sound was

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and where it was coming from.

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WILDMAN: Johnson examines survey reports

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of where these disturbances occurred,

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and he comes to an unexpected conclusion.

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The spots match known locations

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of massive colonies of pistol shrimp.

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Dr. Johnson cannot believe what he just discovered.

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The culprit was measly, little shrimp.

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WILDMAN: Though they are only an inch or two in size,

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thousands of pistol shrimp can live together in colonies.

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Each tiny shrimp has an oversized claw

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it uses to catch food.

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When it clacks its claw together,

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it creates a loud popping sound.

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But if an entire colony does this at the same time,

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the noise is so deafening,

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it can disrupt even the most advanced sonar.

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So it was thousands of these small pistol shrimp

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snapping their claws.

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It was quite amazing.

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WILDMAN: But identifying the source of the problem

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is one thing.

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Solving it is another.

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MALLOY: It was impossible to silence the shrimp.

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They couldn't rightly eliminate all the shrimp in the ocean.

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WILDMAN: And until Johnson figures out a solution

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to this fishy predicament,

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American ships in the Pacific remain at risk.

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MALLOY: There was an extreme amount of pressure on Johnson.

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Winning the war

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was based on how effective their sonar system was.

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And, basically, the Navy was back to square one

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with their problem -- how to fix the sonar.

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WILDMAN: What will it take to defeat these noisy crustaceans?

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It's 1942. War is raging in the Pacific.

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U.S. Naval commanders have a problem --

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Their sophisticated sonar systems

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have been rendered useless

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by the popping sounds produced by tiny pistol shrimp

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all clapping their claws in unison.

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The result is that the Navy can't detect enemy subs,

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leaving American sailors vulnerable to attack.

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So is the U.S. Navy about to be defeated by shrimp?

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Tasked with solving the prawny problem

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is marine biologist Dr. Martin Johnson.

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Johnson knows the Navy can't kill off

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these colonies of shrimp,

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but the Navy could use the situation to its advantage.

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MALLOY: Dr. Johnson knew that the Japanese sonar

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was a lot weaker than the U.S. sonar.

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So if the shrimp affected the U.S. sonar equipment,

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it was definitely gonna affect the enemy's.

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WILDMAN: Johnson reasons

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that if U.S. subs hide near colonies of pistol shrimp,

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the Japanese will never be able to detect them

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through the noise.

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MALLOY: Dr. Johnson recommended

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they use the shrimp as camouflage

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against the Japanese sonar.

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The Navy thought Johnson's idea was absolutely brilliant.

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WILDMAN: With Johnson's help,

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the Navy distributes maps of pistol shrimp colonies

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00:13:58,472 --> 00:14:01,039
to submarines throughout the Pacific.

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These maps provide a network of acoustic hiding places

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all along Japanese supply routes.

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00:14:10,617 --> 00:14:14,452
By camouflaging their fleet in these underwater havens,

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the U.S. Navy gains a decisive advantage in the war.

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MALLOY: With all the technology that the U.S. had in World War II,

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the pistol shrimp were America's little secret weapon.

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WILDMAN: Today, this hydrophone,

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00:14:29,436 --> 00:14:32,870
an underwater microphone used to listen to pistol shrimp,

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00:14:32,906 --> 00:14:35,674
is at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum.

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It recalls the tiny crustaceans

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00:14:38,078 --> 00:14:41,546
that almost torpedoed America's chance at victory.

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California's Pacific Coast Highway

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00:14:48,422 --> 00:14:51,890
is one of the most scenic driving routes in the world.

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At 790 miles long,

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00:14:53,994 --> 00:14:56,928
it offers views of such breathtaking shorelines

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00:14:56,964 --> 00:15:00,165
as Monterey Bay, Big Sur,

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00:15:00,234 --> 00:15:02,968
and Point Mugu State Park.

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And along this historic motorway,

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in the picturesque community of La Jolla

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is the nation's preeminent marine research facility--

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00:15:12,446 --> 00:15:15,580
the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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00:15:18,652 --> 00:15:22,187
The collection includes a cusk-eel,

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00:15:22,256 --> 00:15:25,723
which lives two miles beneath the ocean's surface,

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00:15:25,759 --> 00:15:28,993
a rare deep sea predator called a goblin shark,

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00:15:29,062 --> 00:15:32,663
and an endangered prehistoric fish

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00:15:32,699 --> 00:15:36,534
known as a coelacanth.

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00:15:36,570 --> 00:15:40,071
But among these extraordinary creatures of the deep

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00:15:40,140 --> 00:15:44,142
is a tiny specimen with the strangest story to tell.

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00:15:44,277 --> 00:15:47,278
The artifact is about 7 and 1/2 inches long,

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00:15:47,347 --> 00:15:49,881
and it weighs about 1/4 of a pound.

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00:15:50,016 --> 00:15:51,816
It is brownish-yellow.

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00:15:51,819 --> 00:15:54,285
It was preserved in a glass jar

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00:15:54,321 --> 00:15:57,422
with a white plastic lid.

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00:15:57,424 --> 00:16:01,292
This organism played a starring role

305
00:16:01,361 --> 00:16:04,095
in an underwater enigma that bamboozled

306
00:16:04,164 --> 00:16:06,364
the world of science.

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00:16:06,433 --> 00:16:09,234
This is a story of passion, discovery,

308
00:16:09,369 --> 00:16:12,037
and unexplored mysteries of the deep ocean.

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00:16:16,643 --> 00:16:20,111
Japan, 2012.

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00:16:20,113 --> 00:16:23,781
Yoji Okata is an avid scuba diver

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00:16:23,817 --> 00:16:26,651
and successful underwater photographer.

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00:16:26,653 --> 00:16:29,854
Yoji was an adventurous person with a passion

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00:16:29,923 --> 00:16:32,224
for the natural world.

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00:16:34,261 --> 00:16:35,660
One day in September,

315
00:16:35,795 --> 00:16:38,063
Yoji is diving off the southern coast of Japan

316
00:16:38,198 --> 00:16:42,300
when he sees something unusual on the seabed.

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00:16:45,439 --> 00:16:47,205
Etched into the sand below him

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00:16:47,274 --> 00:16:49,608
is an intricate design.

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00:16:49,610 --> 00:16:53,010
Yoji observed a strange, circular pattern

320
00:16:53,046 --> 00:16:56,948
about six feet wide with sort of sand ridges and hills

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00:16:57,017 --> 00:16:59,351
throughout the circle.

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00:16:59,353 --> 00:17:02,087
In his years of underwater photography,

323
00:17:02,222 --> 00:17:05,156
Yoji had never seen anything like this.

324
00:17:07,494 --> 00:17:09,694
The pattern seems too perfect to have

325
00:17:09,829 --> 00:17:12,697
any natural explanation.

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00:17:12,766 --> 00:17:15,166
He was determined to try and figure out

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00:17:15,302 --> 00:17:18,537
what actually was the cause of these underwater circles.

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00:17:22,376 --> 00:17:23,775
Later, when he examines his photos,

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00:17:23,844 --> 00:17:27,245
Yoji discovers that he is not the first

330
00:17:27,247 --> 00:17:30,315
to come across these complex underwater designs.

331
00:17:30,384 --> 00:17:34,385
These undersea circles were first documented by divers

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00:17:34,421 --> 00:17:37,522
in the Pacific Ocean in 1995,

333
00:17:37,524 --> 00:17:40,926
but since then, their origin has remained a mystery.

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00:17:41,061 --> 00:17:45,330
Some speculate that they're made by ocean currents

335
00:17:45,465 --> 00:17:48,199
forming patterns in the seabed.

336
00:17:48,201 --> 00:17:51,869
But this made no sense to anyone that understood physics of water.

337
00:17:51,905 --> 00:17:56,141
Sand ripples ought to occur in a typical linear fashion.

338
00:17:56,276 --> 00:17:58,877
This was a circle.

339
00:18:01,248 --> 00:18:03,548
Others believe the designs are merely a hoax

340
00:18:03,550 --> 00:18:06,217
created by mischievous divers,

341
00:18:06,286 --> 00:18:09,087
but this hypothesis doesn't hold water, either,

342
00:18:09,222 --> 00:18:12,223
as the circles have been found across a wide swath

343
00:18:12,225 --> 00:18:14,692
of the Pacific Ocean.

344
00:18:14,728 --> 00:18:17,095
No single diver or group of divers could possibly

345
00:18:17,230 --> 00:18:19,497
have made all of these strange formations

346
00:18:19,533 --> 00:18:22,834
on the bottom of the ocean in all of these different places.

347
00:18:25,372 --> 00:18:28,106
With no obvious explanation at hand,

348
00:18:28,175 --> 00:18:31,309
some note that these strange patterns on the seabed

349
00:18:31,311 --> 00:18:34,312
bear a striking resemblance to another bizarre,

350
00:18:34,447 --> 00:18:36,714
land-based phenomenon--

351
00:18:36,750 --> 00:18:39,317
crop circles.

352
00:18:39,386 --> 00:18:41,786
In the 1970s and '80s,

353
00:18:41,822 --> 00:18:45,523
large, unexplained circular patterns began appearing

354
00:18:45,659 --> 00:18:48,326
in corn fields in the United States and Europe,

355
00:18:48,461 --> 00:18:51,129
leading many to suggest that the crop circles

356
00:18:51,264 --> 00:18:53,932
were the work of extraterrestrials.

357
00:18:54,067 --> 00:18:56,267
And if that theory is correct,

358
00:18:56,336 --> 00:18:59,270
then perhaps who, or whatever, made the crop circles

359
00:18:59,406 --> 00:19:03,174
also created these intricate patterns on the ocean floor.

360
00:19:06,546 --> 00:19:09,146
But none of these theories satisfy Yoji.

361
00:19:09,182 --> 00:19:12,016
Yoji did not feel that any of those explanations

362
00:19:12,085 --> 00:19:15,887
were rational, but he wanted to know

363
00:19:15,889 --> 00:19:19,357
what was causing these unusual, crop-like

364
00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,093
circular formations in the sand.

365
00:19:22,228 --> 00:19:24,295
So what's really behind

366
00:19:24,297 --> 00:19:26,931
these curious deep sea creations?

367
00:19:38,545 --> 00:19:40,712
Underwater photographer, Yoji Okata,

368
00:19:40,714 --> 00:19:43,581
has discovered something unusual while diving

369
00:19:43,617 --> 00:19:47,052
off the coast of Japan-- large, intricate patterns

370
00:19:47,187 --> 00:19:49,253
etched into the sand on the ocean floor.

371
00:19:49,322 --> 00:19:51,856
So what or who is responsible

372
00:19:51,892 --> 00:19:53,825
for these deep sea designs?

373
00:19:57,063 --> 00:19:59,397
To crack the enigma, Yoji Okata

374
00:19:59,399 --> 00:20:02,000
returns to the deep, along with an investigative

375
00:20:02,135 --> 00:20:03,768
team of divers.

376
00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:08,072
After days of searching, they find

377
00:20:08,141 --> 00:20:10,808
another ornate circular design.

378
00:20:10,844 --> 00:20:13,745
It's then that the divers see something moving

379
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:15,980
in the middle of the circle--

380
00:20:18,485 --> 00:20:21,018
a tiny fish.

381
00:20:21,088 --> 00:20:24,689
The divers observe the small pufferfish flapping

382
00:20:24,824 --> 00:20:27,625
its fins frantically as it swam back and forth.

383
00:20:27,761 --> 00:20:30,361
The team watches

384
00:20:30,363 --> 00:20:33,231
as the fish uses its fins to create

385
00:20:33,366 --> 00:20:36,167
a circular pattern on the ocean floor.

386
00:20:36,302 --> 00:20:39,303
It didn't take long for the divers to recognize

387
00:20:39,372 --> 00:20:41,906
that the artist of these strange sand formations

388
00:20:42,041 --> 00:20:44,441
was, in fact, a small pufferfish.

389
00:20:44,478 --> 00:20:47,512
The creature is identified as a member of

390
00:20:47,647 --> 00:20:51,216
a newly discovered species called the white spotted pufferfish.

391
00:20:54,921 --> 00:20:56,921
But the question remains--

392
00:20:56,923 --> 00:20:59,123
why do they make these intricate patterns?

393
00:20:59,159 --> 00:21:01,793
After careful observation,

394
00:21:01,928 --> 00:21:04,329
scientists conclude that the work is done

395
00:21:04,464 --> 00:21:08,333
by the male of the species as an elaborate courtship ritual.

396
00:21:10,771 --> 00:21:13,137
The sand formations attracted females,

397
00:21:13,173 --> 00:21:15,206
who swam down the grooves,

398
00:21:15,275 --> 00:21:18,209
where the male was waiting-- the females deposited

399
00:21:18,245 --> 00:21:20,478
their eggs, and the male fertilized them,

400
00:21:20,614 --> 00:21:23,114
and then the male protected those eggs until they hatched.

401
00:21:26,486 --> 00:21:28,919
Yoji Okata and his team are the first to witness

402
00:21:28,955 --> 00:21:31,489
one of the most unusual mating rituals

403
00:21:31,558 --> 00:21:33,624
in the natural world.

404
00:21:33,693 --> 00:21:36,427
Yoji was elated that he finally had discovered

405
00:21:36,429 --> 00:21:39,931
the culprit, the artist, of these strange sand formations.

406
00:21:43,470 --> 00:21:46,503
Today, this pufferfish, like the one responsible

407
00:21:46,540 --> 00:21:49,841
for making these underwater creations, is on display

408
00:21:49,976 --> 00:21:52,577
at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

409
00:21:52,646 --> 00:21:54,913
in San Diego, California.

410
00:21:55,048 --> 00:21:57,482
It recalls a remarkable quest

411
00:21:57,584 --> 00:22:01,385
to reveal the puzzling patterns of ocean life.

412
00:22:05,592 --> 00:22:08,259
Wooden Polynesian effigies,

413
00:22:08,394 --> 00:22:11,729
hand-carved Native American masks...

414
00:22:11,865 --> 00:22:16,200
and the 10,000 year old bones of the Mastodon.

415
00:22:16,203 --> 00:22:19,870
These and other wonders of the Pacific northwest

416
00:22:19,906 --> 00:22:21,872
are on display at the Burke Museum

417
00:22:21,908 --> 00:22:23,407
of Natural History and Culture

418
00:22:23,476 --> 00:22:25,143
in Seattle, Washington

419
00:22:29,216 --> 00:22:31,549
But amidst these earthly relics is one item

420
00:22:31,618 --> 00:22:34,752
that has no place on dry land.

421
00:22:34,821 --> 00:22:38,222
MASLENIKOV: It is about 6 inches long, about 3 1/2 inches wide.

422
00:22:38,291 --> 00:22:40,958
There is a rod coming out of the forehead

423
00:22:40,994 --> 00:22:45,029
with this glowing object at the end of it.

424
00:22:45,098 --> 00:22:47,866
And it has some very large teeth.

425
00:22:50,737 --> 00:22:53,371
WILDMAN: These frightening creatures once roamed unseen

426
00:22:53,506 --> 00:22:56,307
in the darkest depths of the ocean

427
00:22:56,442 --> 00:22:58,376
until they were brought into the light

428
00:22:58,445 --> 00:23:02,380
by one of the most incredible and dangerous expeditions

429
00:23:02,449 --> 00:23:05,115
the world has ever witnessed.

430
00:23:05,151 --> 00:23:07,651
This story tells us about the amazing impossibilities

431
00:23:07,687 --> 00:23:09,587
when we explore the unknown.

432
00:23:12,759 --> 00:23:16,127
WILDMAN: 1925 -- Bermuda.

433
00:23:16,196 --> 00:23:18,997
48-year-old explorer William Beebe is

434
00:23:19,132 --> 00:23:22,734
one of the world's most highly respected biologists.

435
00:23:22,869 --> 00:23:24,736
Throughout his career, he has discovered

436
00:23:24,871 --> 00:23:28,806
countless rare and exotic bird species.

437
00:23:28,808 --> 00:23:30,607
But now the scientist is planning

438
00:23:30,644 --> 00:23:33,277
his greatest adventure yet.

439
00:23:33,313 --> 00:23:35,546
He wants to unlock the secrets held

440
00:23:35,682 --> 00:23:39,083
in the darkest depths of the earth's oceans.

441
00:23:39,152 --> 00:23:42,219
The ocean is this vast, undiscovered frontier.

442
00:23:42,255 --> 00:23:44,155
And for Beebe, here was the chance

443
00:23:44,157 --> 00:23:48,892
to really make his mark in a whole new way.

444
00:23:48,929 --> 00:23:52,029
WILDMAN: But that's easier said than done.

445
00:23:52,098 --> 00:23:55,766
The most advanced diving suits of the day

446
00:23:55,835 --> 00:23:58,770
can only reach a depth of 500 feet.

447
00:23:58,905 --> 00:24:01,906
Anything below that, and the diver inside

448
00:24:01,908 --> 00:24:03,974
would be crushed by the pressure of the water.

449
00:24:04,010 --> 00:24:06,911
But Beebe is undeterred.

450
00:24:07,046 --> 00:24:09,380
MASLENIKOV: He wanted to get deeper and deeper.

451
00:24:09,382 --> 00:24:10,915
So Beebe decides that the only way

452
00:24:11,050 --> 00:24:14,051
he's going to get down there is if he builds a vessel.

453
00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:15,586
WILDMAN: So Beebe teams up

454
00:24:15,722 --> 00:24:18,656
with an engineer named Otis Barton.

455
00:24:18,791 --> 00:24:21,659
Barton is this young engineering student.

456
00:24:21,661 --> 00:24:25,063
For him, it was all about going down as deep as they could.

457
00:24:25,198 --> 00:24:27,131
WILDMAN: Together, they come up with a simple

458
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,667
yet brilliant design.

459
00:24:29,669 --> 00:24:31,469
MASLENIKOV: They knew that it had to be a sphere

460
00:24:31,604 --> 00:24:36,340
because a sphere will distribute the pressure evenly.

461
00:24:36,409 --> 00:24:38,409
WILDMAN: For years, the men worked tirelessly

462
00:24:38,544 --> 00:24:41,479
to build their vessel.

463
00:24:41,614 --> 00:24:45,449
In 1930, it's finally ready.

464
00:24:45,485 --> 00:24:49,086
The craft is made of more than two tons of cast steel

465
00:24:49,122 --> 00:24:51,755
and features two solid-quartz windows,

466
00:24:51,791 --> 00:24:57,028
oxygen tanks, and a spotlight to illuminate the murky water.

467
00:24:57,097 --> 00:25:00,898
It's been carefully welded together so it won't leak.

468
00:25:00,967 --> 00:25:05,169
And it's only opening is a 400-pound door.

469
00:25:05,171 --> 00:25:07,104
If all goes well, it should be able

470
00:25:07,140 --> 00:25:11,108
to withstand depths of up to 4,000 feet.

471
00:25:11,144 --> 00:25:13,711
Beebe and Barton name it the bathysphere,

472
00:25:13,713 --> 00:25:15,713
Greek for "deep sphere."

473
00:25:15,782 --> 00:25:17,715
It was surprisingly small.

474
00:25:17,784 --> 00:25:20,284
It was only 4 1/2 feet across.

475
00:25:23,690 --> 00:25:27,058
WILDMAN: On June 6, 10 miles off the coast of Bermuda,

476
00:25:27,060 --> 00:25:30,994
Beebe and Barton squeeze into the bathysphere.

477
00:25:31,031 --> 00:25:33,263
The vessel is lowered into the ocean

478
00:25:33,299 --> 00:25:37,135
via a cable attached to a barge.

479
00:25:37,270 --> 00:25:39,870
A telephone line keeps them in constant communication

480
00:25:39,939 --> 00:25:41,706
with the ship's crew.

481
00:25:43,943 --> 00:25:46,611
They were so excited and so scared.

482
00:25:46,746 --> 00:25:50,281
They were alone in this steel sphere

483
00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:53,885
lowered where no one had ever been.

484
00:25:53,887 --> 00:25:55,419
WILDMAN: Inside the bathysphere,

485
00:25:55,455 --> 00:25:58,489
Beebe and Barton begin their descent.

486
00:25:58,525 --> 00:26:03,694
To their relief, the design appears to be working perfectly.

487
00:26:03,830 --> 00:26:06,230
But when they reach 300 feet,

488
00:26:06,266 --> 00:26:09,700
something goes terribly wrong.

489
00:26:09,836 --> 00:26:12,437
The door suddenly starts to leak.

490
00:26:14,841 --> 00:26:18,509
Trapped inside this sphere, the men could drown.

491
00:26:18,644 --> 00:26:22,313
If this situation is not solved, they will die.

492
00:26:32,659 --> 00:26:35,659
It's 1930 off the coast of Bermuda.

493
00:26:35,728 --> 00:26:38,863
Explorers William Beebe and Otis Barton are attempting

494
00:26:38,932 --> 00:26:41,331
an unprecedented journey beneath the sea

495
00:26:41,367 --> 00:26:43,267
in a new type of submersible.

496
00:26:43,336 --> 00:26:46,404
But when they reach the depth of 300 feet,

497
00:26:46,539 --> 00:26:48,139
disaster strikes.

498
00:26:48,274 --> 00:26:51,275
Water is suddenly seeping into the craft.

499
00:26:51,344 --> 00:26:54,745
So, can they survive this deadly breach?

500
00:26:57,550 --> 00:26:59,750
As the water pours in from the door,

501
00:26:59,886 --> 00:27:03,354
Beebe proposes an unbelievable solution.

502
00:27:03,489 --> 00:27:06,357
Beebe decides that, rather than go back up to surface

503
00:27:06,426 --> 00:27:11,629
and try and solve the problem, they should go down and fast.

504
00:27:11,764 --> 00:27:13,497
He believes that at a greater depth,

505
00:27:13,533 --> 00:27:15,899
the increased water pressure will actually

506
00:27:15,935 --> 00:27:19,837
push the door tight enough to stop the leak.

507
00:27:19,906 --> 00:27:23,841
It's a bit counterintuitive. You'd think you need to go up.

508
00:27:23,910 --> 00:27:26,911
But if you go down, the pressure will actually

509
00:27:26,913 --> 00:27:29,647
then compress where that problem is

510
00:27:29,782 --> 00:27:33,317
and seal the crack for you.

511
00:27:33,319 --> 00:27:36,120
WILDMAN: Beebe and Barton wait with baited breath

512
00:27:36,122 --> 00:27:39,457
as they descend deeper into the ocean.

513
00:27:39,459 --> 00:27:43,794
To their relief, the leak stops.

514
00:27:43,830 --> 00:27:45,263
With the crisis averted,

515
00:27:45,398 --> 00:27:49,399
Beebe and Barton are able to reach a record depth.

516
00:27:49,435 --> 00:27:51,402
MASLENIKOV: They made it down to 800 feet.

517
00:27:51,537 --> 00:27:53,137
And that was the deepest

518
00:27:53,272 --> 00:27:56,807
that any human had ever been alive.

519
00:27:56,876 --> 00:28:00,077
WILDMAN: The explorers spend an hour below the surface

520
00:28:00,113 --> 00:28:02,747
before being pulled safely back up to the ship.

521
00:28:05,952 --> 00:28:09,153
Over the next several years, Beebe and Barton complete

522
00:28:09,288 --> 00:28:12,623
a series of deeper and deeper dives.

523
00:28:12,758 --> 00:28:15,158
They eventually reach the staggering depth

524
00:28:15,195 --> 00:28:18,229
of 3,028 feet.

525
00:28:18,364 --> 00:28:21,098
Far beneath the surface, Beebe is able to observe

526
00:28:21,167 --> 00:28:24,568
deep-sea creatures in their natural environment,

527
00:28:24,637 --> 00:28:27,371
including the extraordinary anglerfish.

528
00:28:27,373 --> 00:28:31,842
He was so excited when he looked out that window

529
00:28:31,878 --> 00:28:34,645
and, for the first time, saw the anglerfish.

530
00:28:39,185 --> 00:28:41,719
WILDMAN: Today, this anglerfish remains preserved

531
00:28:41,854 --> 00:28:44,989
at the Burke Museum of Natural History in Seattle.

532
00:28:45,024 --> 00:28:47,992
It recalls a historic journey beneath the sea

533
00:28:48,127 --> 00:28:52,096
and the two daring men who exposed a brand-new world.

534
00:28:56,269 --> 00:28:58,336
New Bedford, Massachusetts.

535
00:28:58,338 --> 00:29:00,871
In 1841, author Herman Melville

536
00:29:00,940 --> 00:29:03,274
sailed from this port city on the expedition

537
00:29:03,276 --> 00:29:05,676
that inspired his great American novel,

538
00:29:05,678 --> 00:29:07,345
Moby-Dick .

539
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,081
Today, the area's nautical history is showcased

540
00:29:10,083 --> 00:29:12,250
at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

541
00:29:16,956 --> 00:29:19,156
Here, visitors can view scrimshaw carvings

542
00:29:19,158 --> 00:29:21,359
from the 18th century,

543
00:29:21,494 --> 00:29:24,161
the skeleton of a baby blue whale,

544
00:29:24,297 --> 00:29:26,163
and the world's largest model whaling ship.

545
00:29:28,701 --> 00:29:30,768
But one item here looks like it belongs

546
00:29:30,770 --> 00:29:34,905
not in a maritime museum but in a science fiction movie.

547
00:29:34,974 --> 00:29:37,441
It's a metallic cylinder.

548
00:29:37,443 --> 00:29:39,776
It's very thin.

549
00:29:39,812 --> 00:29:42,179
It's about two and a half feet high,

550
00:29:42,315 --> 00:29:44,448
and it almost looks like a big bullet.

551
00:29:47,053 --> 00:29:50,187
This strange instrument recalls a wondrous tale

552
00:29:50,223 --> 00:29:53,590
of adventure, exploration, and creatures from the deep.

553
00:29:53,660 --> 00:29:57,261
This is a story of the incredible possibilities

554
00:29:57,396 --> 00:29:59,263
beneath the Earth's oceans.

555
00:30:03,403 --> 00:30:06,203
1997, Newport, Oregon.

556
00:30:06,339 --> 00:30:09,140
Dr. Christopher Fox is a veteran researcher

557
00:30:09,275 --> 00:30:12,209
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

558
00:30:12,345 --> 00:30:14,412
or NOAA.

559
00:30:14,414 --> 00:30:17,682
Their role is to monitor and do scientific study

560
00:30:17,817 --> 00:30:20,484
of the oceans and atmosphere.

561
00:30:20,619 --> 00:30:23,621
One of NOAA's most powerful tools

562
00:30:23,623 --> 00:30:26,757
is a scientific instrument called the hydrophone.

563
00:30:26,793 --> 00:30:30,427
The listening device, like this one in the collection

564
00:30:30,496 --> 00:30:32,763
of the New Bedford Whaling Museum,

565
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:35,566
is a microphone designed for recording or monitoring

566
00:30:35,668 --> 00:30:37,834
sound underwater.

567
00:30:37,870 --> 00:30:40,171
Most of the time, Fox and his fellow scientists

568
00:30:40,173 --> 00:30:42,840
pick up sounds of sea life or ships.

569
00:30:42,909 --> 00:30:45,710
But one day,

570
00:30:45,845 --> 00:30:47,978
they hear something louder and stranger

571
00:30:48,114 --> 00:30:50,247
than anything they've heard before.

572
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:55,919
They couldn't figure out what these sounds were.

573
00:30:56,021 --> 00:30:57,921
It had not previously been recorded.

574
00:30:57,990 --> 00:31:00,190
It actually sounded like a "bloop!"

575
00:31:03,863 --> 00:31:07,732
Fittingly, the scientists nickname the unusual sound

576
00:31:07,867 --> 00:31:10,868
the Bloop, and according to their data,

577
00:31:10,870 --> 00:31:14,404
it appears to originate from over 3,000 miles away.

578
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,141
Fox is astonished.

579
00:31:17,143 --> 00:31:19,944
For a sound to travel such a distance,

580
00:31:19,946 --> 00:31:22,813
its source must be deafeningly loud.

581
00:31:22,948 --> 00:31:25,750
When you find something so abnormal,

582
00:31:25,885 --> 00:31:29,153
it really gave people a lot of pause of what that

583
00:31:29,222 --> 00:31:31,354
could actually be.

584
00:31:31,391 --> 00:31:34,625
The short, seemingly random sound pattern

585
00:31:34,627 --> 00:31:38,495
bears no similarities to the long, steady hum of submarines

586
00:31:38,564 --> 00:31:41,165
or other man-made machines,

587
00:31:41,234 --> 00:31:43,967
and it doesn't match the pattern that would be expected

588
00:31:44,036 --> 00:31:46,370
from an underwater earthquake, volcano,

589
00:31:46,372 --> 00:31:48,972
or other geological phenomena.

590
00:31:49,008 --> 00:31:51,609
It was unknown where the sound was coming from.

591
00:31:54,514 --> 00:31:57,314
With these simple explanations ruled out,

592
00:31:57,383 --> 00:32:01,051
a more remote, even outlandish possibility, emerges--

593
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,654
that the sound could be emanating

594
00:32:03,789 --> 00:32:06,390
from some kind of unknown sea creature.

595
00:32:08,594 --> 00:32:10,794
We know more about the surface of Mars and the moon

596
00:32:10,863 --> 00:32:13,130
than we know about the floors of the sea.

597
00:32:13,265 --> 00:32:16,199
There is life down there, and we don't necessarily

598
00:32:16,235 --> 00:32:19,002
know what it is.

599
00:32:19,038 --> 00:32:21,806
But for a marine animal to make a noise

600
00:32:21,941 --> 00:32:25,542
as powerful as the Bloop, it would have to be gargantuan in size.

601
00:32:25,578 --> 00:32:27,678
A blue whale,

602
00:32:27,813 --> 00:32:30,147
the largest known living creature on the planet,

603
00:32:30,249 --> 00:32:33,751
emits a call that's more deafening than a jet plane.

604
00:32:33,753 --> 00:32:37,154
And based on his calculations,

605
00:32:37,289 --> 00:32:41,157
Fox estimates that the Bloop is three times as loud.

606
00:32:41,194 --> 00:32:43,560
If we were to consider that this monster's

607
00:32:43,596 --> 00:32:45,963
about three times the size of a blue whale,

608
00:32:46,098 --> 00:32:49,500
it probably would've been the length of about eight to nine school buses.

609
00:32:49,569 --> 00:32:52,903
So is this thunderous sound really coming

610
00:32:52,939 --> 00:32:55,239
from a giant, undiscovered sea creature?

611
00:33:06,786 --> 00:33:08,719
It's 1997.

612
00:33:08,788 --> 00:33:11,322
Dr. Christopher Fox and a team of researchers

613
00:33:11,457 --> 00:33:14,658
have recorded an underwater sound in the Pacific Ocean.

614
00:33:14,793 --> 00:33:17,394
They've named it the Bloop.

615
00:33:17,463 --> 00:33:21,197
The sound is one of the loudest and most powerful ever recorded,

616
00:33:21,234 --> 00:33:24,001
leading some to suspect the source may be

617
00:33:24,136 --> 00:33:27,071
a giant marine creature that's never been seen before.

618
00:33:27,206 --> 00:33:31,008
So is there some massive, mysterious beast

619
00:33:31,077 --> 00:33:33,944
lurking in the deep?

620
00:33:33,946 --> 00:33:38,882
Fox and his fellow researchers continue to monitor the Bloop for weeks,

621
00:33:38,951 --> 00:33:42,819
but they cannot determine what is making the thunderous sound.

622
00:33:42,855 --> 00:33:45,756
Then, suddenly,

623
00:33:45,891 --> 00:33:48,291
it stops.

624
00:33:48,327 --> 00:33:50,761
And now that it's gone, it seems that finding the source

625
00:33:50,763 --> 00:33:53,497
of the strange sound will be impossible.

626
00:33:53,632 --> 00:33:57,468
No one hears the Bloop for years.

627
00:34:00,339 --> 00:34:02,506
Then, in 2008,

628
00:34:02,508 --> 00:34:05,976
scientists in the Antarctic are monitoring acoustic activity

629
00:34:05,978 --> 00:34:09,713
when they pick up the same unusually powerful sound,

630
00:34:09,782 --> 00:34:12,649
and this time, whatever is making it

631
00:34:12,718 --> 00:34:15,452
appears to be close by.

632
00:34:15,521 --> 00:34:18,455
This phenomenon happened again, and it happened to be recorded

633
00:34:18,491 --> 00:34:21,058
closer to their source.

634
00:34:21,060 --> 00:34:23,727
The researchers methodically search the region,

635
00:34:23,729 --> 00:34:26,997
yet they find no trace of a large marine creature.

636
00:34:27,033 --> 00:34:30,667
But they do notice an interesting natural phenomenon

637
00:34:30,736 --> 00:34:34,405
that might solve the mystery once and for all.

638
00:34:34,407 --> 00:34:38,409
They witness large glaciers moving and breaking apart,

639
00:34:38,411 --> 00:34:41,812
a geologic process known as cavving.

640
00:34:41,947 --> 00:34:43,747
So the glaciers were moving,

641
00:34:43,749 --> 00:34:45,883
and these have unique sounds.

642
00:34:45,885 --> 00:34:48,685
It was loud, and it wasn't terribly long,

643
00:34:48,754 --> 00:34:50,954
and it wasn't rhythmic.

644
00:34:51,023 --> 00:34:53,423
The noise created by the friction between

645
00:34:53,459 --> 00:34:55,959
the enormous slabs of ice is identical

646
00:34:55,995 --> 00:34:59,263
to the one first picked up by Fox and his team at NOAA.

647
00:35:02,268 --> 00:35:04,768
It had a similar signature, similar frequency,

648
00:35:04,804 --> 00:35:07,037
and similar volume to what they had heard

649
00:35:07,172 --> 00:35:10,040
in the '90s, so this actually was a sound

650
00:35:10,109 --> 00:35:12,042
made by ice breaking apart

651
00:35:12,111 --> 00:35:14,578
and not by an underwater sea creature.

652
00:35:17,350 --> 00:35:20,250
Scientists believe that glacial cavving

653
00:35:20,386 --> 00:35:23,120
is the most likely source of the Bloop.

654
00:35:23,122 --> 00:35:26,056
Still, many continue to wonder what unknown,

655
00:35:26,058 --> 00:35:28,859
magnificent creatures lurk in the deep.

656
00:35:28,928 --> 00:35:31,328
There's so much left to explore,

657
00:35:31,463 --> 00:35:34,531
and we don't really know what else we're gonna find.

658
00:35:38,037 --> 00:35:41,405
Today, this hydrophone, used to detect underwater sounds,

659
00:35:41,407 --> 00:35:44,207
is on display at the New Bedford Whaling Museum

660
00:35:44,276 --> 00:35:46,009
in Massachusetts.

661
00:35:46,045 --> 00:35:48,144
It recalls the maritime mystery

662
00:35:48,180 --> 00:35:50,514
and the Bloop heard round the world.

663
00:35:54,086 --> 00:35:57,220
An 85 pound sturgeon from the Gulf of Mexico...

664
00:35:57,256 --> 00:36:00,423
A massive devil ray with a 4 foot wing span.

665
00:36:00,459 --> 00:36:03,427
and an alligator gar,

666
00:36:03,429 --> 00:36:07,164
one of the largest fish in North America

667
00:36:07,233 --> 00:36:10,234
are just some of the incredible aquatic creatures

668
00:36:10,236 --> 00:36:13,369
found at the Royal D. Suttkus fish collection

669
00:36:13,406 --> 00:36:16,907
in New Orleans, Louisiana.

670
00:36:16,909 --> 00:36:19,376
But among these spectacular specimens

671
00:36:19,511 --> 00:36:22,379
is a deceptively simple display.

672
00:36:24,116 --> 00:36:27,451
It's about 17 inches tall, it's made of glass

673
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:29,319
and inside is an amber liquid.

674
00:36:29,388 --> 00:36:33,389
Suspended in the liquid are dozens of little creatures

675
00:36:33,426 --> 00:36:36,593
6 to 8 inches long each with beady little eyes

676
00:36:36,729 --> 00:36:38,528
and a scaly exterior.

677
00:36:38,597 --> 00:36:41,465
It's not often you come across a jar

678
00:36:41,467 --> 00:36:44,534
with 53 floating bodies inside.

679
00:36:46,472 --> 00:36:50,340
These tiny creatures took center stage in an international drama

680
00:36:50,476 --> 00:36:52,943
that played out in the ocean's depths.

681
00:36:53,012 --> 00:36:56,212
This is a story about Sweden, submarines,

682
00:36:56,248 --> 00:36:58,682
and an underwater mystery.

683
00:37:04,790 --> 00:37:08,092
WILDMAN: It's the 1990s.

684
00:37:08,227 --> 00:37:09,959
The Cold War is over,

685
00:37:09,995 --> 00:37:12,495
but, despite the apparent fall of communism,

686
00:37:12,531 --> 00:37:16,299
tensions across Europe remain high.

687
00:37:16,368 --> 00:37:19,036
Many fear that the destabilized Russian state

688
00:37:19,171 --> 00:37:20,904
will go on the offensive

689
00:37:21,039 --> 00:37:23,306
in a desperate bid to gain new territory

690
00:37:23,342 --> 00:37:25,909
following the breakup of the USSR,

691
00:37:25,978 --> 00:37:28,712
and one country in Russia's firing line

692
00:37:28,814 --> 00:37:29,746
is Sweden.

693
00:37:29,782 --> 00:37:32,649
Sweden was very close to the Soviet Union

694
00:37:32,685 --> 00:37:35,319
and had to be prepared, in case the worst happened.

695
00:37:39,591 --> 00:37:41,658
WILDMAN: Then, something happens that suggests

696
00:37:41,660 --> 00:37:45,328
the country's worst fears are about to come true.

697
00:37:47,066 --> 00:37:49,533
One day, in May 1994,

698
00:37:49,535 --> 00:37:51,868
while the Swedish Navy is doing a routine sweep

699
00:37:51,904 --> 00:37:54,738
of the Baltic Sea,

700
00:37:54,807 --> 00:37:59,676
sonar operators detect a suspicious sound.

701
00:37:59,678 --> 00:38:04,214
PORGES: It sounded like the static of a TV or radio.

702
00:38:04,283 --> 00:38:09,553
WILDMAN: To the navy officers, it can only mean one thing...

703
00:38:12,291 --> 00:38:15,092
...an enemy submarine.

704
00:38:15,227 --> 00:38:17,627
The operators assumed the worst: that the vessel they detected

705
00:38:17,663 --> 00:38:20,297
was a Soviet nuclear submarine.

706
00:38:20,432 --> 00:38:23,300
It fit the audio signature of a submarine.

707
00:38:23,302 --> 00:38:24,902
That's because submarines,

708
00:38:24,904 --> 00:38:28,838
they release a lot of air bubbles.

709
00:38:28,874 --> 00:38:31,174
WILDMAN: The Swedish Navy dispatches a fleet of ships

710
00:38:31,177 --> 00:38:34,645
to intercept the lurking Russian vessel.

711
00:38:34,647 --> 00:38:38,782
But after an exhaustive search, they come up empty.

712
00:38:38,784 --> 00:38:40,517
They look for vessels in their water,

713
00:38:40,586 --> 00:38:44,454
and they don't find a thing.

714
00:38:44,490 --> 00:38:47,858
WILDMAN: But despite coming up empty-handed,

715
00:38:47,927 --> 00:38:50,126
the Swedish Navy continues

716
00:38:50,196 --> 00:38:53,663
to pick up traces of the weird noise.

717
00:38:53,699 --> 00:38:55,999
The Cold War was supposed to be over,

718
00:38:56,068 --> 00:38:58,735
but if the Swedish Navy couldn't figure out

719
00:38:58,771 --> 00:39:02,405
what was happening, it could mean war.

720
00:39:02,474 --> 00:39:04,808
WILDMAN: So what's making this strange sound?

721
00:39:16,288 --> 00:39:18,222
It's May 1994.

722
00:39:18,357 --> 00:39:22,358
The Swedish Navy has just intercepted a strange,

723
00:39:22,394 --> 00:39:24,228
underwater signal.

724
00:39:24,363 --> 00:39:25,828
They think it may originated

725
00:39:25,865 --> 00:39:28,498
from a Russian spy submarine lurking in the Baltic,

726
00:39:28,534 --> 00:39:31,368
but there's something even fishier afoot,

727
00:39:31,370 --> 00:39:33,103
far beneath the waves.

728
00:39:34,540 --> 00:39:36,973
With the source of the signal still unknown,

729
00:39:37,042 --> 00:39:38,441
the Swedish Navy appoints a team

730
00:39:38,510 --> 00:39:41,044
of esteemed scientists to investigate.

731
00:39:41,179 --> 00:39:43,113
The first thing the scientists do

732
00:39:43,115 --> 00:39:44,581
is listen to the audio recording.

733
00:39:44,650 --> 00:39:48,251
WILDMAN: But to these experts, the noise doesn't sound

734
00:39:48,287 --> 00:39:50,587
like it was created by a machine.

735
00:39:50,656 --> 00:39:53,390
They believe it has a natural source.

736
00:39:53,459 --> 00:39:57,394
The team hypothesizes that the sound could be made

737
00:39:57,396 --> 00:40:00,864
by tiny bubbles of methane gas

738
00:40:00,866 --> 00:40:03,934
released through cracks in the sea floor.

739
00:40:04,003 --> 00:40:06,002
They test the sediments at the bottom of the Baltic Sea

740
00:40:06,038 --> 00:40:07,871
to see if they can find any traces of gases

741
00:40:08,006 --> 00:40:10,007
that might match this sort of signal.

742
00:40:10,142 --> 00:40:12,409
They find nothing.

743
00:40:12,544 --> 00:40:16,079
WILDMAN: Then, a scientist named Magnus Wahlberg

744
00:40:16,148 --> 00:40:19,216
comes forward with a new theory.

745
00:40:19,351 --> 00:40:22,352
Magnus Wahlberg was a bioacoustics expert.

746
00:40:22,421 --> 00:40:24,421
Wahlberg had an idea.

747
00:40:24,556 --> 00:40:28,492
What if the cause of the sound wasn't a machine or sediment...

748
00:40:30,062 --> 00:40:31,828
but an animal?

749
00:40:31,830 --> 00:40:34,898
WILDMAN: And Wahlberg thinks he knows the creature that's responsible.

750
00:40:34,900 --> 00:40:39,235
It's a mainstay of Swedish cuisine:

751
00:40:39,271 --> 00:40:41,571
the herring.

752
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:43,707
Herring gather in massive schools

753
00:40:43,776 --> 00:40:45,575
in the waters off Sweden.

754
00:40:45,644 --> 00:40:48,912
Like many other fish, they have a special organ,

755
00:40:48,914 --> 00:40:52,316
called a swim bladder, to help them stay afloat,

756
00:40:52,451 --> 00:40:54,984
but there is one unique difference.

757
00:40:55,020 --> 00:40:58,922
While most swim bladders are connected to a fish's lungs,

758
00:40:58,991 --> 00:41:02,726
the herring's is connected to its rear end.

759
00:41:04,196 --> 00:41:06,195
When they squeeze that swim bladder,

760
00:41:06,231 --> 00:41:09,199
maybe to communicate or to express alarm,

761
00:41:09,268 --> 00:41:12,735
gas comes out through their anal duct.

762
00:41:12,771 --> 00:41:15,138
WILDMAN: Wahlberg suspects the noise is made

763
00:41:15,174 --> 00:41:19,609
by air being squeezed through the fish's sphincter

764
00:41:19,678 --> 00:41:22,278
and that, if a school of fish was large enough,

765
00:41:22,348 --> 00:41:24,881
it could create the steady stream of noise

766
00:41:25,017 --> 00:41:27,417
heard by the Swedish Navy.

767
00:41:27,552 --> 00:41:31,687
To test his hypothesis, he fills an aquarium with herring

768
00:41:31,724 --> 00:41:34,290
and gently squeezes each one by hand.

769
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:36,760
The resulting sound is recorded

770
00:41:36,895 --> 00:41:40,430
and sent to the Swedish Navy for comparison.

771
00:41:40,432 --> 00:41:43,032
Sure enough, perfect match.

772
00:41:46,305 --> 00:41:48,104
There was no submarine to worry about.

773
00:41:48,140 --> 00:41:49,439
It was just a bunch of

774
00:41:49,475 --> 00:41:52,942
herring farts.

775
00:41:58,450 --> 00:42:00,717
Today, this jar of preserved herring

776
00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:04,721
is kept at the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection in New Orleans.

777
00:42:04,790 --> 00:42:08,791
It recalls the international incident that, in the end,

778
00:42:08,827 --> 00:42:11,795
was caused by a school of flatulent fish.

779
00:42:14,533 --> 00:42:15,999
From a legendary sea monster

780
00:42:16,134 --> 00:42:18,802
to shrimpy sonar...

781
00:42:18,937 --> 00:42:20,404
a descent to the bottom of the ocean,

782
00:42:20,539 --> 00:42:23,206
to the ultimate red herring.

783
00:42:23,242 --> 00:42:27,110
I'm Don Wildman, and these are the Mysteries at the Museum.

783
00:42:28,305 --> 00:43:28,327