Seismologists in Oregon have been eavesdropping on the rumblings of a mysterious submarine volcano since May 1998, but they haven’t been able to locate the loudmouth.
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The scientists, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), use a network of underwater microphones, or hydrophones, to listen to the ocean. Mainly for detecting earthquakes, the hydrophones can pick up whale calls and construction projects an ocean away, says seismologist Robert P. Dziak of NOAA and Oregon State University in Newport.