e116 loss - what does ecological loss sound like where you live?

(bell and breath)

(muffled sound of ocean waves)

This recording filters out all high and mid-range frequencies that I captured of ocean waves at Canaveral National Seashore in Florida, on March 23, 2023 around midnight while doing an impromptu soundwalk with colleagues from the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology conference Listenng Pasts - Listening Futures.

Why did I do this? 

I invite you to sit with the loss of these upper and mid frequencies as a metaphor for the loss of biodiversity on earth.

I don’t mean to inflict undue pain here

In any way. Rather my point is to invite you to sit with this sound. To sit with the trouble, as Donna Haraway would say.

And I suggest you try to avoid enjoying it as an aesthetic experience or getting used to it as the new normal.

It’s not normal.

Luckily all I have to do to bring back the high frequencies is turn a button and you could experience the rich splendour of this soundscape…

but I’m not going to do that.

What does ecological loss sound like where you live?

*

Thanks to the Atlantic ocean for allowing me to record your waves and to filter your sounds in order to help raise awareness within human communities about the perils of our behaviour to your great waters and all of its living beings. 

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).

My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the National Parks Conservation Association.

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020 on un-ceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory (Ottawa). 

It’s my way to give back.

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish free ‘a calm presence' Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.

Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on July 8, 2025