I far too rarely go out to sea or lakes to record underwater soundscapes. The problem is probably that I need to get to a depth of 30 meters or more, be calm and smooth seas and be free of ship and boat traffic. In places where currents can be expected, I prefer to be able to attach to a buoy, because I want to be able to record for an hour or more.
Such situations are not directly accessible around me, but sometimes places are discovered in the most unlikely places. I found one not far from my workplace, which is the largest shipping port in Iceland.
There were no cargo ships in port, so I was probably free from engine noise. Not far away were 3 large cruise ships. But the remarkable thing about these ships was that there was no engine noise from them, although I know that the ships are not connected to land. There was only a strong 22Khz signal, probably from a sonar which I could easily delete in post processing so it shouldn’t bother those with good hearing.
In my opinion, this is not a remarkable recording, but still you can hear a „natural silence“ even if there were some waves on the surface, which usually produces white noise. I settled on a pontoon dock south east of Viðey island during the high tide, to be able to have the maximum depth which was 6-7 meters.
It was a good place to be able to sit on the pier for a while and forget myself while listening to the soundscape of the sea below while the recorder recorded.
It had been raining heavily hours before so the loudest thing in this recording is the raindrops falling from the pier floor to the sea above the hydrophones.
Shortly after the recording starts, there is a light rain shower which is clearly heard as added noise. Behind all this noise from water drops and rain, you can hear soft clicks and sparks that I suspect are coming from Blue Mussels and a low-short „fart“ sound that I think is coming from Pollock. At one point in the recording, you can hear bubbles, possibly methane gas, coming up from the ocean floor. Other strange sounds similar to birdsong can also be detected, which are not easy to identify where they are coming from. It is therefore important to pay attention while listening.
This is a recording made at midnight. Perhaps more life would have been heard on a bright, sunny day. But since I have made some nice recordings in the sea in the last months in several places, this recording seems to describe a rather typical acoustic environment inside the fjords along the coast of Iceland.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid volume.
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(mp3 256kbps / 59,1Mb)
Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Benthowave BII-7121
Pix: Samsung S22
Weather: Light gust, calm to 3m/s, Heavy rain – light sowers
Location: 64.155404, -21.834807
HLJÓÐMYND - SOUNDIMAGE 