Fish Sounds, Coral and You

Fish make all kinds of sound, and we don't know about that as a rule. Jana Winderen was one of the speakers at Dark Ecology up in Russia. She talked about how her work led to greater care for coral reefs in the Caribbean.

Interesting. We've all seen gorgeous photos of coral. But hearing the fish and so on making sounds actually clinched it when it came to caring for the lifeforms there.

I wonder why. One could perhaps say unwarranted things about sound being immediate and visual things not being, and all the usual cliches. Or perhaps there is a more vivid link for us right now between listening and caring.

Or simply that the voices of fish prevent us from seeing them simply as objects of a sadistic gaze (gaze not being the same as visuality nota bene).

The fact that they call to one another, without us, despite us. I remember the impact of Songs of the Humpback Whale in the 1970s.

That by hearing via underwater microphones rather than seeing, we realize that the biosphere is lit up whether or not we open the refrigerator door.

What do you think?