Tag Archives: Mary River

Events

Six Degrees of Separation Exhibition

Leave a comment

IMAGE

The ”Six Degrees of Separation” Exhibition at the Gympie Regional Gallery invited a select group of artists to explore climate change and environmental art. Leah Barclay was invited to showcase the latest installation from River Listening.

Key Public Events:

16 July – 15 August, Exhibition featuring River Listening

The River Listening installation is presented as a immersive multi-channel listening space where listeners can lie down immersed in sound with a river bed floating above their heads.

August 11th, 1pm, River Listening Artist Talk with Dr. Leah Barclay (also streaming live on Periscope)

August 15th, “Future Communities” Symposium
6pm at the Gympie Regional Gallery

How will climate change effect us?
What might future communities look like?
How can we be prepared for the future?

Join guest speakers Dr Marcus Bussey, Dr Leah Barclay, Dr Tony Fry and Zela Bissett, when these questions and more will be raised at this event held in conjunction with the exhibition “Six Degrees of Separation”, where twelve artists have responded to issues of climate change, whether real or perceived, in a variety of visual and auditory mediums.

River Listening (2015) Dr. Leah Barclay
Interactive multi-channel sound installation

River Listening is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Dr. Leah Barclay and the Australian Rivers Institute that explores the creative possibilities of aquatic bioacoustics and the potential for new approaches in the conservation of global river systems.

The project involves listening labs, field recording, sound maps, performances and installations to experiment with virtual technologies and community engagement in understanding river health and aquatic biodiversity.

This immersive installation draws on hydrophone (underwater) recordings from the Mary River, Noosa River and Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia collected throughout 2014. The additional sonic material draws on fragments from Barclay’s previous rivers projects across Australia, Brazil, India, Korea, China and Europe. This includes the Amazon River Dolphin in central Brazil, water insects at dusk on the banks of the Pamba in southern India, snapping shrimp in Cambodia’s Tonlé Sap Lake and explorations on London’s iconic Thames.

River Listening is a sound installation that reimagines the world beneath the surface of river systems. Aquatic environments we often think of as silent are actually dynamic acoustic ecologies that can help us understand the health of a river. This installation explores rivers as the lifeblood of communities and draws on ten years of collaborations with river systems across the world.

Events, Mary River, Workshops

World Rivers Day 2014

Leave a comment

WorldRiversDaybanner

World Rivers Day is a celebration of the world’s waterways. It highlights the many values of our rivers, strives to increase public awareness, and encourages the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world. Rivers in virtually every country face an array of threats, and only through our active involvement can we ensure their health in the years ahead.

In 2005, the United Nations launched the Water for Life Decade to help create a greater awareness of the need to better care for our water resources. Following this, the establishment of World Rivers Day was in response to a proposal initiated by internationally renowned river advocate, Mark Angelo.

The proposal for a global event to celebrate rivers was based on the success of BC Rivers Day, which Mark Angelo had founded and led in western Canada since 1980. A World Rivers Day event was seen by agencies of the UN as a good fit for the aims of the Water for Life Decade and the proposal was approved. River enthusiasts from around the world came together to organize the inaugural WRD event. That first event in 2005 was a great success and Rivers Day was celebrated across dozens of countries. Since then, the event has continued to grow. It is annually celebrated on the last Sunday of every September. In 2014, several million people across more than 60 countries will be celebrating the many values of our waterways.

River Listening Lab on the Mary River
River Listening Lab on the Mary River

To celebrate World Rivers Day 2014 we are running River Listening workshops along the Mary River in Queensland in collaboration with the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC) and the Greater Mary Association Inc. The first will be on Saturday, September 27 at Moy Pocket near Kenilworth and the second on Sunday the 28th, near Tiaro, much closer to the river’s mouth. The Mary River is just over three hundred kilometres long with several thousand kilometres of tributaries included in its catchment. For over two decades the MRCCC has worked to foster better stewardship of not just the river and its riparian vegetation but of the whole of the catchment.

The Moy Pocket Rivercare Day will be held just to the north of Pickering bridge and will include a riparian walk led by Marc Russell as well as tree-planting, natural regeneration and some freeing of young trees engulfed by Cat’s Claw Creeper. The property is part of the Connection Road Corridor which links the biodiverse Conservation Park on top of the Kenilworth Bluff with the Mary River. The day starts at 10 am and goes till mid-afternoon. The River Listening workshop will happen from 12pm-1pm with an introduction to the project and demonstration of the River Listening hydrophone recording kits. Participants will have the opportunity to listen to the sounds of the Mary River and make their own hydrophone recording that will be published on this website in November.

The Tiaro event on Sunday the 28th of September, will be held in the Mary River Koala corridor at Petrie Park on the Mary River just north of Tiaro town. Starting at 10:00 am, the event includes koala food tree planting, and the launch of a new publication by the Greater Mary Association about the creation of the corridor. There will also be opportunities to tour the biological control facility established to fight Cats Claw creeper around the Fraser Coast region. The River Listening workshop will run from 1:30-2:30pm with an introduction to aquatic bioacoustics, hydrophone demonstrations and recording in two locations along the river. Participation in the River Listening workshops is free of charge and the resulting recordings will contribute towards a community sound installation at the 2014 Mary River Festival.

Thanks to Tanzi Smith for inviting River Listening to participate in these events.

Brisbane River, Mary River, Noosa River, Workshops

Snapping Shrimp

Leave a comment

snapping-shrimp

The database of hydrophone recordings from the initial Listening Labs on Noosa River, Brisbane River and Mary River feature extensive recordings of snapping shrimp, one of the most common aquatic sounds captured by hydrophones. While I have been recording snapping shrimp for a number of years, I’m always intrigued to see the reactions when people hear the sounds of shrimp for the first time. Many of the workshop participants find it hard to believe a tiny creature can create such an intense sound.

Snapping Shrimp, also know as Pistol shrimp or Alpheidae, are found worldwide with over 600 species living in oceans, rivers and freshwater catchments. The sound they emit could be likened to a crackling fire, but has the capacity to stun crabs and fish and reach an impressive 218 decibels.

The snapping shrimp has two claws, one which appears to be disproportionately large with two unique joints that create the distinctive sound. The speed in which the joint snaps shut creates a powerful wave that results in the loud popping sound. The sound is generated by the collapse of a cavitation bubble formed in an extremely rapid closure of their claw.

Snapping Shrimp – M. Versluis, B. Schmitz, A. von der Heydt, and D. Lohse, Science 289, 2114 (2000).
Shrimp Claw - M. Versluis, B. Schmitz, A. von der Heydt, and D. Lohse, Science 289, 2114 (2000).
Shrimp Claw – M. Versluis, B. Schmitz, A. von der Heydt, and D. Lohse, Science 289, 2114 (2000).

A temporal analysis of the sound recordings and the high-speed images below show that no sound is associated with the claw closure, it is all created in the collapse of the bubble.

Although they are usually only 3–5 cm long, this family of shrimp is considered the loudest animal in the sea, which is an impressive feat considering the size of a sperm whale. When found in large numbers, the shrimp have the capacity to interfere with sonar and underwater communication equipment and also other aquatic species. 

Brisbane River, West End Ferry Wharf, Recorded at 3pm on August 14th 2014.
Brisbane River, West End Ferry Wharf, Recorded at 3pm on August 14th 2014.

It is rare to capture a singular shrimp in a recording, the soundscapes generally consist of a constant crackling and popping that will continue for hours. I have been observing the sonic changes in the shrimp sounds at different times of day, and also analysing how they react to other sounds in the river.

Hilton Esplanade, Noosa River, Recorded at 6pm on September 2nd 2014.
Hilton Esplanade, Noosa River, Recorded at 6pm on September 2nd 2014.

Considering there are 600 species of this shrimp worldwide, it is certainly a large area of aquatic bioacoustics that warrants further investigation. My initial questions revolve around the specific sonic characteristics of the species present in South East Queensland rivers. As the shrimp can interfere with sonar and underwater communication equipment, it would be interesting to explore how they affect communication and interaction amongst other aquatic species in Queensland rivers. It is also likely the intensity of the sounds they emit has an impact of other aspects of the river ecosystem. To explore this further I am planning to monitor other aspects of the river ecosystems at four contrasting sites. From a creative perspective, we are currently exploring concepts for a range of installations that will draw on the source material and allow listeners to experience the soundscapes in immersive contexts using transducers to produce the effect of listening underwater.