Bubbles in a freshwater lake

WHEN the wind is strong enough to produce whitecaps on Loch Ness, patchy ‘clouds’ of acoustic reflectors are detected well below the surface, the depth to which they penetrate increasing with wind speed (Fig. 1). No seasonal variation in the occurrence of the reflectors has been detected. A biological explanation is therefore discounted and we suggest here that they are bubbles caused by waves breaking and forming whitecaps in deep water. Similar bubble clouds may occur in other lakes and in the sea.