Signals from Near and Far Shores: Voices from the Natural World

Abstract

So to the sounds of the natural world, its flora and fauna. We must seek to place ourselves within the sonics of nature, rather than as outside observers. We understand that much of the sound and vibration with which creatures and plants communicate is beyond our ability to hear; new technologies may help us detect the minutiae of sound around us, but likewise other man-made creations can damage the natural world beyond repair. We discover bird dialect, and how migratory and non-migratory birdsong is affected by environment. We visit Henry David Thoreau beside Walden Pond. The sub-aqua world is beginning to reveal its many voices, and the earth itself—the shifting sands of its surface and the subterranean murmurings beneath the soil—asks us to listen.