Listening Underwater

Abstract

Within the earth’s environments of air and water we have two radically different media for the propagation of sound. Entering the underwater environment we find ourselves in a three-dimensional space where the need to breathe becomes regulated and the buoyancy of water acts against the pull of gravity. The creatures that live in the water have responded to these pressures, developing an array of perceptual and physiological adaptations. This brings us into a world that both mirrors our understanding of sound and challenges us to investigate new definitions and relationships.