This small fish is capable of producing extremely loud sounds. Louder than a jet airplane.
New research has shown that a tiny fish with an average size of only 12 mm can generate sounds with an intensity of 140 decibels. This is well above the human pain threshold.
Decibels are a unit of sound volume. They are denoted by the symbol dB. This is how we determine the human ear’s ability to distinguish noise. This allows us to compare different volume levels, for example, when comparing noise to safety standards.
0 dB represents the quietest sound audible to humans. The smallest change we can hear is about 3 dB. Meanwhile, the pain threshold is around 130 dB. Prolonged noise at a level of 65 decibels can also be harmful to health.
The Loudest Fish in the World
For example, during a normal conversation, the human voice reaches about 60 dB. A whisper is already half as loud. But during shouting, the noise level rises to 80 dB. This is only a few decibels less than a car or motorcycle. So, which sounds can cause pain? Closer to this threshold is a chainsaw, which generates noise at even 100 dB. But the sound of an airplane exceeds this threshold with a result of 130 dB. Ear pain…
