Fish sex keeps Hampshire, England residents awake at night

October 26, 2013

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/10/fish-sex-keeps-hampshire-england-residents-awake-at-night.html

A pulsating, low frequency hum has been keeping some Britons up at night, prompting dozens of them to complain about the noise and inspire an official investigation into the cause.

They wracked their brains trying to find the source, coming up with everything from their neighbours' washing machines, to power lines, to circling airplanes, the BBC reported.

But the top theory "not beyond the realms of possibility" is that it's the sound of horny midshipman fish having sex, according to the Environment Agency and the New Forest District Council in Hampshire, England.

Midshipman fish can make noises that can carry through the ground, walls and homes and last for hours.

"At the moment we are keeping an open mind as to the source of the noise, particularly as low frequency noise can travel considerable distances," Davina Miller, of the district council, told the BBC.

"The midshipman fish is not commonly found within the inshore waters of the U.K. As far as we are aware there are no other marine fish native to this country capable of creating widespread noise disturbance of this nature."

The deep sounds, similar to a constant dial tone, has been heard in Hampshire and in communities within an hour from there.

The number of complaints the district council receives has increased from 10 to 30 a week, with no end in sight.

"I thought I was going mad at first. I hear it every night unless it's windy or raining," Linda Zammit, of Woolston, Southampton, told The Independent. "It doesn't keep me awake but it stops me getting back to sleep if I do happen to wake up."

Sound monitoring equipment is being installed at a number of properties whose residents have made complaints. Those people are also being asked to keep a diary of what they hear.

Of course, seeing "fish sex" in news headlines has prompted many on Twitter who aren't being kept awake by mating fish to enjoy a good laugh.