The Loudest Animal in the World
The sperm whale holds the title of the loudest animal on the planet, producing sounds at a staggering intensity of 236 dB underwater or 174.5 dB in the air. The competition for the loudest animal is primarily fought in the ocean, with the contenders being the sperm whale and the blue whale. Although the blue whale is the largest animal on Earth, the sperm whale is believed to produce the loudest sound, though the answer is somewhat complex, according to IFL Science.
Sound intensity is typically measured in decibels (dB), but sound behaves differently in water compared to air. Water is denser than air, and sound travels faster in water. As a result, 100 dB underwater is not the same as 100 dB in the air. To more accurately compare underwater decibels with those in the air, we need to account for the differences in pressure (subtracting 25.5 dB) and the variations in density and sound speed between air and water (subtracting 36 dB).
The loudest sound produced by the sperm whale, a series of short clicks, has been recorded at 236 dB underwater, which is equivalent to 174.5 dB in the air—louder than the roar of a jet engine at 140 dB. In comparison, the blue whale’s calls reach around 188 dB underwater. However, when converted to the air equivalent, the blue whale’s call is about 126.5 dB, placing it behind the sperm whale.
On land, if you were to visit the habitat of howler monkeys, you might need ear protection. Howler monkeys are the loudest land animals and the second loudest in the natural world. Their calls can reach up to 140 dB in the air and can be heard from as far as 5 kilometers away, comparable in intensity to the noise of a jet engine during takeoff and 10 dB higher than the threshold of pain for human hearing.
