What is the loudest animal?
The sperm whale is often called the loudest animal, producing clicks of about 230 decibels underwater. On land, howler monkeys and certain birds are among the loudest.
Sperm whales use extremely loud clicks for echolocation, to find squid in the deep ocean, and to communicate. These clicks can be heard many kilometers away. Blue whales and fin whales also make very loud, low-frequency calls. Sound levels underwater are measured differently from those in air, so they cannot be directly compared with land sounds.
On land, howler monkeys of Central and South America have calls that can be heard about 5 kilometers away through the forest. The white bellbird of the Amazon has the loudest recorded bird call, reaching about 125 decibels. Some cicadas can produce sounds over 100 decibels.
Tiny but loud
Relative to its size, one of the loudest animals is the water boatman, a small insect. Males make a sound of about 99 decibels by rubbing body parts together. Pistol shrimp snap their claws so fast that they create a bubble that collapses with a loud crack.
Did You Know?
Elephants communicate with low rumbles called infrasound that can travel several kilometers, much of it below the range of human hearing.