Elon Musk recently stirred attention with his claim that US regulators made SpaceX conduct some rather unusual experiments involving seals. During an interview on the Lex Friedman podcast, Musk revealed that SpaceX was instructed by the government to "kidnap" seals as part of a bizarre test. According to Musk, the experiment involved securing a seal to a board, outfitting it with headphones, and then exposing it to the sounds of sonic booms—loud noises created when rockets break the sound barrier during launch.
Musk explained that the aim of these tests was to assess how sonic booms might affect the local seal population in areas near SpaceX launch sites. He even shared a photograph showing a seal strapped to a board, wearing headphones, seemingly unbothered while listening to the sonic boom created by a rocket launch. The tests, conducted twice, appeared to show that the seals remained calm throughout the process.
Sonic Booms Are Really Affecting Seal Population?
Sonic booms occur when rockets exceed the speed of sound, producing powerful shock waves. Musk mentioned that US regulators wanted to determine whether these loud sounds were disturbing or harmful to the seals.
Interestingly, Musk noted that the seal population near SpaceX’s launch facilities has actually increased over the past few years, suggesting the animals have not been adversely affected by the rocket noise.
In a separate, equally strange anecdote, Musk also shared that during a town hall event for Trump in Harrisburg, SpaceX was asked to study the possibility of a Starship rocket colliding with a shark. This study was later expanded to include whales, raising eyebrows about the kinds of environmental impact assessments SpaceX is being asked to conduct.