Recent discrepancies between measurements of bubble populations near the surface in the ocean by optical and acoustical methods have been discussed in detail by MacIntyre [F, MacIntyre, “On reconciling optical and acoustical bubble spectra in the mixed layer,” in Oceanic Whitecaps, edited by E. C. Monohan and G. MacNiocaill (Reidel, New York, 1986), pp. 75–94.] Another possible explanation for the very large number of small bubbles found by acoustic methods is the potential for overestimates of bubble numbers through the use of resonance scattering theory in the bubble population calculations. In this work it is shown that for some bubble distribution of interest, the acoustic backscattering for a particular frequency is actually dominated by scattering contributions from off‐resonance bubbles. This effect is more prevalent for high frequencies, causing overestimation of the number of small bubbles, which is precisely where the two methods disagree. The more complete acoustic calculations may not completely reconcile the bubble number estimates obtained from the optical and acoustical bubble spectra; however, they bring them closer together. [Work supported by ONT.]