The Earth's loudest creature is the snapping shrimp.
Their unique snap results from the rapid closure of their pincers, which creates a vacuum bubble that collapses into a burst of plasma at eight thousand degrees. This generates a flash of light and a powerful shockwave to stun their prey. In a group, they create a constant sizzling noise, likened to the sound of bacon frying. Snapping shrimp reside in subtropical waters all over the world and their collective snapping produces communicative sounds at 220dB - double that of a rock concert. In 1971, Pink Floyd played so vociferously at a show in London that they killed all the fish in a nearby lake. And so, this is how the 'Synalpheus pinkfloydi'—also known as the snapping shrimp—acquired their name.
When they form extensive colonies, snapping shrimp can cause a breakdown in underwater communication. These shrimp constitute a significant source of oceanic noise and can pose interference in highly specialised anti-submarine warfare operations. During World War II, a ubiquitous crackling noise was interfering with the U.S. military's sonar, which was vital for detecting enemy submarines. To pinpoint the source of this suspicious interference, researchers from the University of California Division of War Research were enlisted by the US Navy. They soon reported that colonies of minuscule snapping shrimp were responsible for this widescale disruption. The Navy then included 'shrimp sounds' on training videos to assist sonar operators in avoiding audio misinterpretation, and to teach operators how to clean audio from the shrimp crackles: eradicating the shrimp's presence from the oceanic recordings.
A specialised underwater microphone called a hydrophone, is used throughout military oceanic communication. Historically, sonobuoys (a hydrophone and radio transmitter) have been used to record enemy submarines. They operate by transforming underwater pressure changes (sound waves) into electrical signals. Whilst the hydrophone is used to extend knowledge of oceanic space, it has always had a militarised history. The hydrophone was invented in 1929 by Canadian inventor Reginal Fessenden and it was redesigned by France before World War I to detect German sappers.
The use of military sonar has a serious effect on marine life and is argued to be one of the main causes of whale strandings worldwide. Meanwhile, many military activities enabled by a sonic understanding of ocean space—warships, submarines, bombs and leaking ammunitions—all disturb marine ecologies. The sonic disruption caused by the snapping shrimp subverts the military view of marine areas as empty spaces primed for military and human use. Military experts are therefore reminded that the oceans they dominate are ecological and not just a militarised empty plane. The snapping shrimp defiantly occupy the underwater airwaves and deny the military the space to exercise sonic signalling and detection.
Uncleaning the Archive argues for the recognition of ocean space as ecological and challenges the patriarchal values inherent in militarised marine economies.
"Feminism or death. A new way of living, or no way of living. We must develop a feminism that contributes to the survival of the human species and its reproduction." (D'Eaubonne 1974)
Women have a rich history of protesting against ecological degradation as a result of the historical subjugation of women. This research draws from the work of the French ecofeminist Francoise D'Eaubonne who proposed the concept of a 'mutation'. This idea involves a fundamental shift away from male-centric power structures, with women positioned as the primary agents for effecting systemic change. Such change holds the potential to liberate not only women but also the planet, aligning both human and environmental well-being and advocating for the preservation of the environment.
Uncleaning the Archive engages with US Navy sound archives, focusing on snapping shrimp and military sonar recordings. The 'SanctSound recordings' from The National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA and the US Navy) and The San Francisco Maritime National Park Association archives will be the primary source of sound material. This project explores Rob Nixon's notion of 'slow violence' (2011) by moving away from visual media and focusing on 'deep listening' (Oliveros 1999) to explore invisible soundscapes of oceanic removal.
The soundscape is repetitive in form, experimenting with the slowness of playback; the layering of sounds; new underwater sound hydrophone recordings and the chaotic summation of the snapping shrimp chorus alongside military sound archives. Through the distortion glitches occur, which makes a wider comment on the damage that the military is exerting on the marine environment. The project is a screen recording that includes underwater footage of the shrimp and audio files being combined and manipulated on-screen. The military sonar recordings are isolated, layered and uncleaned to construct a soundscape that is disorientating in nature. By placing the shrimp back into the recordings of the sonar—by “uncleaning” the archive— I aim to critique the US Navy's deliberate eradication of snapping shrimps from their database of recordings.
Selected Bibliography: 1. Allen, I.K. 2020. Thinking with a Feminist Political Ecology of Air-and-breathing-bodies. 26(2). Sage Journals. 2. Carson, R. 2020. Silent Spring. Penguin UK. 3. d'Eaubonne. F. 2022. Feminism or Death. Verso Books. 4. Federici, S. 2021. Caliban and the Witch. Penguin UK. 5. Nixon, R. 2011. Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Universitv Press. 6. Oliveros, P. 2022. Quantum Listening. Ignota. 7. Hyžný, M et al, 2020. Pistol Shrimps: How To Recognise Them In The Fossil Record. Deposits Mag. 8. Tsui, T. 2023. It's Not Just You. Gallery UK.