Breaking News - Get a whiff of this

FISH FARTING MAY NOT JUST BE HOT AIR
By Celeste Biever
New Scientist
November 5, 2003

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994343

Biologists have linked a mysterious, underwater farting sound to bubbles coming out of a herring's anus. No fish had been known to emit sound from its anus nor to be capable of producing such a high-pitched noise:

http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~bwilson/Herring_sound.wav

"It sounds just like a high-pitched raspberry," says Ben Wilson of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Wilson and his colleagues cannot be sure why herring make this sound, but initial research suggests that it might explain the puzzle of how shoals keep together after dark.

"Surprising and interesting" is how aquatic acoustic specialist Dennis Higgs, of the University of Windsor in Ontario, describes the discovery. It is the first case of a fish potentially using high frequency for communication, he believes.

these are female fish.

:)

have ever read. This one made me giggle. LOL

Thanks.

that she will blame it on the dogfish that happened to be swimming close by...

That's explosive diarrhea caused from ingesting illegal prescription drugs now present in America's drinking water! They fear the fish or their favorite worms may come in contact with Viagra in the Hard Water!

How'd you like to put that on your resume, your tombstone?

I can see I'm going to have to keep the males in my house from hearing of this. "It's not a fart, honey. I'm just trying to communicate with you."