In 1997, NOAA researchers using hydrophones in the southern Pacific Ocean recorded a strange, powerful, and extremely loud sound, later dubbed 'the Bloop.' The sound was detected by sensors over 5,000 kilometers apart, sparking speculation about giant sea creatures or secret military activities. It was later identified as an icequake from a large iceberg breaking away from an Antarctic glacier.

The Bloop became a cultural phenomenon, inspiring poetry, songs, and speculative fiction about the unknown depths of the ocean. Poets of the Anthropocene, such as Jorie Graham and Alice Oswald, have drawn on such deep-sea mysteries to explore themes of environmental change and the limits of human understanding in their work.