Remote sensing: more-than-human mediations in sound

Rarely noticed above the waves, whale migrations have a profound effect on underwater sonic milieux. Seasonal fluctuations in the songs of the humpback, minke, and sei whales are underpinned by the year-round subsonic bass of the fin whale and fringed with the high-frequency whistling of delphinids. Sometimes experienced through the hulls of wooden boats, such sounds are thought to have inspired the beautiful Irish melody Port na bPúcaí (‘Song of the Ghosts’). Closer to shore, fish and crustaceans contribute more percussive elements.

Twenty-first century underwater acoustic monitoring has shown that the effects of twentieth century whaling still haunt population distributions, and revealed that cetacean migration routes and timings are shifting in response to changing ocean temperatures. This remote sensing or “digital eavesdropping” (Bakker 2024) allows whales to be used as climate sentinels, but also offers the prospect of a wider public engagement with underwater sound, whether through citizen science listening projects or mediated by musicians.

In this performance, we present works for clarinets, double bass, and electronics featuring the recorded sounds of whales and other marine species moving through Scottish waters. We simultaneously stand as witnesses at, and actively bear witness to, the changing voices of the ocean.