Herring unmentionables...

[senoritafish]

Since herring are related to the fish I work with (Pacific sardines), I was fascinated to hear about this. Apparently, the unidentified sound marine biologists were hearing is herring passing gas. That's right, I said fish farting. Much like my husband, they seem to do it more at night, and it's speculated they use it for communication.

I was wondering if it was really legit, or some kind of April Fool's prank, but New Scientist is a fairly reputable magazine.

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

And indeed, here is the horse's mouth...
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~bwilson/herring.html

...And they even received an Ig-Nobel prize for their work...
http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2004
(scroll down to Biology)

Dave Barry weighs in on the subject, too, as we know he's an authority on "breaking wind" (and according to him the word fart is much to coarse for Miami Herald readers delicate sensibilities, because he's not allowed to say it...)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/7364452.htm/
(I think this lets you read the article once, and then you have to register if you want to go back)

I love science.