It is loud down there?

[movieflick]

My wife and I were watching "Blue Planet" on the discovery channel and I had made the comment that these videos always make it seem so silent. She didn't understand what I meant and I spent the next 20 mins trying to convince her it was very loud for me and that I am not nuts. I called our Daughter, who dives with us often, and she didn't know what I was talking about either. Apparently, for them, it is silent other than the sound of the regs. This is something I never gave thought to until now and I am hoping someone else knows what I am talking about.

When I dive in the ocean, fresh water I don't recall this happening, I hear a great deal of noise. It sounds like the crackle of a high voltage wire or perhaps a loud version of the sound of a bowl of rice crisps. It is loud and fairly constant and it does not change with depth that I can recall. Does anyone know what I am talking about and what it is I am hearing

 

[Blazinator]

90% of the time in ocean diving, the constant clicking sound is the crabs and other marine life. Notice how it gets louder the closer to the reef or bottom. Even louder yet are parrotfish crunching on coral. On the surface or in fresh water, I've noticed similar sounds - coming from my neck vertebrae. Right now, turn your head side to side, and you'll hear it. It's louder UW.

 

[vladimir]

Yes, parrotfish and other coral muchers are noisy and toadfish make that grunting noise that seems to carry forever, but it is all usually overwhelmed by the regulator noise. I'd like to dive a rebreather just for the peace and quiet--I do think it would be pretty quiet without the bubbles.

 

[movieflick]

Thanks for the replies and the info. I was worried something was wong lol.

 

[shoredivr]

There is a kind of shrimp that makes quite a clicking, snapping and popping racket on night dives in the Caribbean.

Then you have the human-made sounds, like the huge vibrations of a Great Lakes freigher going past you in the nearby shipping channel in the St. Lawrence River




....the vibrations shake right through your body (the first time it was alarming, but now as long as I'm not IN the shipping channel...heh heh...I find it cool)

 

[SeaCobra]

My father was a submariner during WWII, a radioman, and as he told it they liked to find schools of shrimp, etc. Hid the sub quite well. So, quite a noisy world down there.

 

[Ze_Abron]

Actually, other than the regulator, it is pretty silent down there for me. That is why I love diving with the wife, I can be with here, but in a nag-proof environment.

 

[ladyarkles]

It's pretty quiet for me too, just the bubbles.
Unfortunately (for my buddy) I sing to the fish when the mood takes me, not sure how far that carries or how good it sounds through my reg!

Guess this makes me a "dork diver"! :geek:

Rach xx

 

[Diver0001]

When I dive in the ocean, fresh water I don't recall this happening, I hear a great deal of noise. It sounds like the crackle of a high voltage wire or perhaps a loud version of the sound of a bowl of rice crisps. It is loud and fairly constant and it does not change with depth that I can recall. Does anyone know what I am talking about and what it is I am hearing

You're not imagining things. I hear it too. It's anything but quiet down there.

R..

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Sound carries amazingly well underwater. A freighter or tug passing a mile away can sound like it's right on top of you. I've heard the "clicking" noises or orcas or dolphins that weren't even within sight of the dive boat.

I've also experienced the noises the OP describes ... usually on night or "dawn" dives, the latter being one of my favorite ways to enjoy diving in the tropics by entering the water while it's still dark and watching the "shifts" change as daylight approaches. I like to call it the sound of breakfast being served as the day critters wake up and go about their daily business.

Funniest sounds I've ever heard underwater are a dive buddy of mine who uses a rebreather. He talks to himself constantly while we're diving, and has one of the most infectious chuckles I've ever heard. I can make out every word he's saying over the course of a dive. It'd be distracting if it weren't so dang funny ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)