Recent studies have shown that certain species of Mexican fish have the power to deafen surrounding sea-life.
The Gulf Corvina, found only in the cooler northern waters of the Gulf of California and the Colorado River Delta, produces a mating call like “a really loud machine gun”, according to Timothy Rowell from the University of San Diego.
Apparently when this group of fish gather, (usually in the thousands), they literally make a deafening racket disrupting and potentially harming the hearing of nearby sea mammals. The frequencies of sound that the male fish produce are described as low pulsing noises, similar to gunshots, and can even be heard from the fishing boats above!
Rowell and his research partner, Brad Erisman, from the University of Texas in Austin have discovered that the calls of these noisy fish raise the environment's normal level of sound by an extraordinary 21 times.
This spectacle may have drawn scientists to the Colorado River Delta, but unfortunately it also draws many fisherman hoping to cash in on this gathering of such a unique species. As a result, the Gulf Corvina is at risk of extinction due to overfishing in the area, which could create serious problems for surrounding marine life. “A precautionary approach should be adopted by fisheries managers to ensure that this wildlife spectacle does not disappear,” said Rowell, who hope that their research into this natural spectacle could increase awareness of the importance of marine conservation and discourage overfishing in the area.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.