The loudest animal of all Not only can baleen whales emit calls that travel farther than any other voice in the animal kingdom, these giants of the deep also create the loudest vocalisations of any creature on earth: the call of a blue whale can reach 180 decibels – as loud as a jet plane, a world record.
The sperm whale is technically the loudest animal in the world, but the answer is up for debate because how we perceive loudness is subjective. Do you measure the loudest animal by the decibels they register or by the impact of the sound itself? The dispute comes down to two animals: the blue whale and the sperm whale.
Blue whale
Blue whales can make extremely loud whistling calls each other. Their sirens can reach 188 dB, louder than jet engine or grenade explosion. Sound carries further underwater, so the whales can be heard over 800km away.
It might look demure, but the bush stone-curlew has a call that would make just about anyone's blood run cold. Nicknamed the 'screaming woman bird', their high-pitched, drawn-out shrieks can be heard across the night as they try to contact each other.
Cassowaries have a reputation for being dangerous to people and domestic animals. The 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records lists the cassowary as the world's most dangerous bird.
The Loudest Sound, Naturally
The loudest sound in recorded history came from the volcanic eruption on the Indonesian island Krakatoa at 10.02 a.m. on August 27, 1883. The explosion caused two thirds of the island to collapse and formed tsunami waves as high as 46 m (151 ft) rocking ships as far away as South Africa.
Humans are the only known species to produce emotional tears; the expression “crocodile tears,” which refers to a person's phony display of emotion, comes from the mysterious tendency of crocodiles to release tears as they eat.
Animals simply don't cry. Or at least, they don't shed emotional tears. The only creatures who have evolved to do so, it turns out, are humans.
Lyrebirds are gorgeous creatures with an unusual trait–they vocalize like human babies! These aren't the only birds that make unusual sounds, but their cry may be the most troubling to hear if you don't know what it is! Let's take a closer look at the lyrebird and its unique call.
Loud appliances such as a vacuum cleaner or power tools could exceed 80 dB. Human screams can be quite loud, possibly exceeding 100 dB (as of March 2019, the world record is 129 dB!) —but you probably want to avoid that because screams that loud can hurt your ears!
While blue whales are both the loudest and the largest animals, the sperm whale is louder in terms of pure decibels. Its clicks are measured at an incredible 230 decibels. These clicks, however, last for very short bursts and are often out of the range of human ears.
The lion has the loudest roar of all the big cats. It's so loud it can reach 114 decibels (at a distance of around one metre) and can be heard from as far away as five miles. This volume is all to do with the shape of the cat's larynx.
Amusingly, the loudest word ever shouted is, quiet. The current Guiness World Record in shouting has been held by Annalisa Wray since 1994. At the Citybus Challenge in Belfast Northern Ireland, she ironically yelled the word quiet to a level of 121.7 decibels, almost as loud as a jet engine!
The Krakatoa volcanic eruption: Not only did it cause serious damage to the island, the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 created the loudest sound ever reported at 180 dB. It was so loud it was heard 3,000 miles (5,000 km) away. 3. A 1-Ton TNT Bomb: An explosion from this bomb would measure 210 dB.
Microsoft's main anechoic chamber has the lowest sound level ever recorded. It is just a few decibels off of the lowest sound theorized by scientists.
A knife scraping against a glass bottle is the most unpleasant sound for most human beings, researchers from the Newcastle University and Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL, both in England, reported in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Silence is the loudest sound in the universe, because it's the only thing that makes you stop and look around. Because silence is what we all fear.
Horses and cows kill the most humans every year in Australia
It really is no joke.
The Dingo is Australia's largest terrestrial carnivore, though it occasionally eats plants and fruits. They're opportunistic hunters, but will also scavenge food. The bulk of their diet is made up of meat: they eat kangaroos, wallabies, feral pigs, wombats, small mammals (rabbits, rodents), birds and lizards.
Key statistics
The mortality rate remained low in 2021 (507.2 per 100,000 people). Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death.
Common Sources of Noise and Decibel Levels
Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears.
Sounds above 150 dB have the potential of causing life-threatening issues. Sounds between 170-200 dB are so intense that they can cause lethal issues like pulmonary embolisms, pulmonary contusions, or even burst lungs. As for exploding heads, you can expect that from sounds above 240 dB.