Sounds in the Ocean
Listen to example sound clips of marine sounds, taken from passive acoustic recorders.
Spectrograms—shown on the right of each image below—are a way to visualize sound, and represent frequency (Y-axis) over time (X-axis). Colleagues and scientists of the Northeast's Passive Acoustic Research Group collected the sounds on this page.
To play a sound: Click on the audio file link; it will open and play the sound.
To download a sound file: Right-click on the link and choose the "save link as" option.
Note: Some sounds are very low frequency. You may not be able to hear well without a bass speaker.
Mysticetes (Baleen Whales)
Blue Whale
(Low-frequency sound; played at 3x normal speed)
Balaenoptera musculus | Species profile | Play audio
Fin Whale
(Low-frequency sound; played at 5x normal speed)
Balaenoptera physalus | Species profile | Play audio
Humpback Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae | Species profile | Play audio
Minke Whale
Balaenoptera acutorostrata | Species profile | Play audio
North Atlantic Right Whale
Eubalaena glacialis | Species profile | Play audio
Sei Whale
(Low-frequency sound; played at 1.5x normal speed)
Balaenoptera borealis | Species profile | Play audio
Odontocetes (Toothed Whales)
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Stenella attenuata | Species profile | Play audio
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus acutus | Species profile | Play audio
Beluga Whale
Delphinapterus leucas | Species profile | Play audio
Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus | Species profile | Play audio
Beaked Whales
Ziphiidae family | Species profile | Play audio
Harbor Porpoise
Phocoena phocoena | Species profile | Play audio
Killer Whale
Orcinus orca | Species profile | Play audio
Pilot Whale
Globicephala spp. | Species profile | Play audio
Risso's Dolphin
Grampus griseus | Species profile | Play audio
Short-beaked Common Dolphin
Delphinus delphis | Species profile | Play audio
Sperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus | Species profile | Play audio
Striped Dolphin
Stenella coeruleoalba | Species profile | Play audio
White-beaked Dolphin
Lagenorhynchus albirostris | Species profile | Play audio
Pinnipeds (Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses)
Bearded Seal
Erignathus barbatus | Species profile | Play audio
Crabeater Seal
Lobodon carcinophagus | Species profile | Play audio
Gray Seal
Halichoerus grypus | Species profile | Play audio
Harbor Seal
Phoca vitulina | Species profile | Play audio
Harp Seal
Pagophilus groenlandicus | Species profile | Play audio
Leopard Seal
Hydrurga leptonyx | Species profile | Play audio
Ross Seal
Ommatophoca rossii | Species profile unavailable | Play audio
Weddell Seal
Leptonychotes wedellii | Species profile | Play audio
Teleosts (Bony Fish)
Atlantic Cod
Gadus morhua | Species profile | Play audio
Haddock
Melanogrammus aeglefinus | Species profile | Play audio
Human-made Sounds
Seismic (Oil & Gas)
Play seismic exploration audio
Vessel
