Underwater Sounds: Oil Rig Ferry

Whenever I have some free time I like to drop my hydrophones off my local pier. I am always hoping for some whales but more often than not it is just the sound of the shrimp, boats entering and exiting the 2 adjacent marinas (on the left and right), and sometimes even dolphins.

hydrophones off the Seal Beach Pier 2023

The ferry that picks up and drops off the oil rig workers happened to be making a drop during my last trip to the pier. Their boat makes some interesting underwater sounds.

Oil rig ferry landing at Seal Beach Pier
Oil rig ferry backing up
Oil rig ferry casting off

There was also a dredge about half mile out; I couldn’t hear the dredging very well but I did get a couple of clips of the seafloor dirt being dumped by a barge. It sounds kinda like a metallic trash can.

Underwater dredge dump

Last but not least, the faintest of dolphin sounds. I need to get out on a boat and give these hydrophones a deeper dunk, fingers crossed for 2024.

Dolphin

Recorded with a MixPre 6 II and dual DIY hydrophones

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