The Mariana Trench, the deepest point in our oceans, is one of the most hostile places on the planet. With pressure so high that it would crush any conventional submarine, only a few organisms survive in its dark depths. Despite its inaccessibility, its exploration has revealed valuable information about life in extreme conditions and the sounds that inhabit its waters.

In 2014, an unusual sound was captured in the Mariana archipelago, called the Biotwang. At first, it was thought to come from a baleen whale, but it could not be confirmed visually. A recent study, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, has solved the mystery, revealing that Bryde’s whales are responsible for this unique sound.

Common in tropical and temperate waters, these whales migrate throughout the western and central Pacific region. The Biotwang appears mainly between the months of February and April, and more intensely between August and November. This discovery is crucial because it provides clues about their migration and distribution patterns, and opens new windows to the study of a population of Bryde’s whales in such a remote and little-explored region.