Local marine scientist believes mystery sound in South Tampa could be black drum fish
Haley Hinds reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Could fish be behind the mystery sound puzzling people in South Tampa and other coastal areas?
FOX 13 first brought you the story two weeks ago as many South Tampa neighbors searched for source of a sound made on certain nights. They could hear and even feel a low bass with vibration.
Despite noise complaints, the Tampa Police Department hasn't been able to pinpoint where it's coming from. MacDill Air Force Base said it wasn't their planes and Yacht StarShip said it wasn't any of their boats.
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Since the story first aired, we received all sorts of feedback and ideas for hat the sound could be, but one question has continually come up – what if it's black drum making all that noise?
Turns out, black drum are big, noisy creatures, especially when they are courting a mate. A local marine scientist said that low frequency can travel a good distance into homes.
"I think what you're describing indicates that there's a lot of black drum distributed over a wide area," said Dr. James Locascio, the program manager of Fisheries Habitat Ecology and Acoustics at MOTE Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. "It's not just a single group that's very loud that the sound is traveling those distances. That's a lot of fish."
This is the time of year they mate, and they're not shy about it.
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"Sound is associated with courtship and spawning in the drums," Locascio said. "They're hearing a sound that is produced by a specialized muscle in the fish called the sonic muscle. And the sonic muscle is striking against the swim bladder."
Locascio did his dissertation on this very topic at the University South Florida College of Marine Science. He helped people in Cape Coral and Punta Gorda solve their own mystery by using underwater acoustic recorders and having neighbors log their observations.
When these frisky fishies get busy, Locascio said they can hit 165 decibels underwater at a low frequency.
"Sounds could travel to the ground through the water and make it into their home," said Locascio.
The study found the sound picked up around dusk and continued for several hours.
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"How far they travel depends on how intense they are, the source, what the background levels are like in the environment they're traveling through and what the physical environment is like that they're traveling through," Locascio said.
Black drum can grow over 100 pounds, shacking up in the bays and muddy canals as well as the gulf. The owner of See Through Canoe shared recent drone video of black drum with FOX 13. He said that, by far, this is the most migrating black drum he's seen in years.
The season of love runs through early spring. So, next time you hear the rumble, "kind of celebrate the cool factor of it," Locascio said, "and, you know, just wonder about it and listen to the fish. Maybe they're telling us something important."
How can we know with 100% certainty that these amorous black drum are the culprits? Locascio said he's willing to put an underwater microphone and recorder into the water. January tends to be the peak, and he said that would be the best time to do it.
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