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Visualizing the soundscape of the calving grounds of the North Atlantic Right Whale
Non-fiction   Open access   Peer reviewed

Visualizing the soundscape of the calving grounds of the North Atlantic Right Whale

Michael Towsey, Leah Barclay and Ginna Brock
Text, Vol.22(Special Issue 52), pp.1-11
Australian Association of Writing Programs
2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52086/001c.25563
Appears in  NTRO Research Collection
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Abstract

Performing Arts and Creative Writing creative writing North Atlantic Right Whale spectrogram anthropogenic noise soundscape ecoacoustics
The key to this provocation is the spectrogram with its beautiful bands of colours. This image represents 44 days of recorded acoustic data which has been subject to falsecolour imagery in the same way that satellite images are represented. The soundscape was captured to help ecologists understand the migration patterns of the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. The spectrograms identify three dominant features of the ocean soundscape in the area of this sample (15 kilometres off the coast of Georgia in the centre of the whales' calving grounds): mechanical noise from passing ships; the night chorus of the black-drum fish (Pogonias cromis); and a mysterious third element, possibly caused by the cables that tether the hydrophone to the ocean floor strumming under the influence of strong tidal currents. Research Background ‘Paradise Disturbed’ is a linguistic representation of two artistic efforts surrounding oceanic noise pollution. The first artistic representation of this phenomenon was a spectrogram by Michael Towsey. Michael provided a visualisation of 44 days of sound recording from off the Georgia coast in a ‘critical habitat’ for The North Atlantic Right Whale (the most endangered of the large whales). The endangerment of these whales is due in large part to destructive human behaviour and industrialisation of the ocean. From this spectrogram, Leah Barclay created an ‘intuitive soundscape composition’ which acoustically exposed the problematic continuance of noise pollution on oceanic environments. After examining these two pieces, I was tasked with creating a linguistic interpretation to further expose the consequences of our anthropocentric actions. My research question became - How can I linguistically represent specific acoustic and visual phenomenon of anthropocentric destruction. Research Contribution One of the constants, from Michael’s and Leah’s work, was the sound from the whales. Even when the noise from the ships overpowered the acoustic soundscape, the spectrogram acknowledged that communication between the whales was ever-present, only drowned by man-made machines. After the noise of the boats faded and the sound of whales once again could be distinguished, the sound was different – almost tentative. This shift exposes the lasting impact, stress, and anxiety caused by human related noise pollution – after the encounter the whales are altered. As such, my creative piece explores the intersection between the consistencies of existence with the behavioural alterations. I referenced Samuel Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, which exposes ecological implications of anthropocentricism, where ‘the hubris of the protagonist toward non-human life results in large scale catastrophe’ (Zapf 2016, 218). Instead of having my speaker addressing another human being (as did Coleridge), I used the technique of apostrophe to have the speaker addressing a non-human entity. The identification of this non-human identity is purposefully ambiguous, as the poem operates on a more symbolic level, where the overt focus on noise pollution acts as a microcosm for all human deeds that disadvantage natural habitats. Research Significance ‘Paradise Disturbed’ has been accepted to appear in TEXT Journal in an upcoming special edition called Anticipatory Imaginaries - due to be published at the end of 2018.

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