ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following work: Buttacavoli, Matthew (2020) Sounding the reef: comparative acoustemologies of underwater noise pollution / Pejling af revet: komparativ akustemologi af undersøisk støjforurening. PhD Thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: https://doi.org/10.25903/4aa3%2Dg206 Copyright © 2020 Matthew Buttacavoli. The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owners of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please email [email protected] Sounding the Reef Comparative Acoustemologies of Underwater Noise Matthew Buttacavoli PhD Dissertation, 2020 College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University and Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University Sounding the Reef Comparative Acoustemologies of Underwater Noise Pollution Pejling af revet: Komparativ akustemologi af undersøisk støjforurening by Matthew Buttacavoli This thesis/dissertation is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University and to the Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University June 2020 Sounding the Reef: Comparative Acoustemologies of Underwater Noise Pollution Pejling af revet: Komparativ akustemologi af undersøisk støjforurening By Matthew Buttacavoli ©2020 Matthew Buttacavoli PhD Thesis College of Arts, Society and Education James Cook University, 2020 PhD Dissertation Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology Aarhus University, 2020 Primary supervisors: Jennifer Deger, Associate Professor, College of Arts, Society & Education, James Cook University Ton Otto, Professor, Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University and Professor, College of Arts, Society & Education, James Cook University Co-supervisors: Heather Anne Swanson, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University Annette Markham, Professor, School or Communication and Culture, department of Digital Design and Information Studies Cover design by author ii Acknowledgements I would like to extend my gratitude to my supervisors: Jennifer Deger, Ton Otto, Heather Anne Swanson, and Annette Markham. They have guided and supported my (at times strange and wandering) research project. It is through their collaboration and play that I have been able to build the thesis that follows. I would also like to thank my fellow Visual, Digital Material Research students—Victoria Baskin-Coffey, Jasmin Guenther, Sebastian Lowe, Alicia Wheatley, and Fiona Wirrer-George—for their constant support and friendship throughout my candidature. Special thanks to Hilary Whitehouse for being a constant sounding board for developing many of my ecological sentiments. Thanks also to the greater James Cook University, Cairns postgraduate community for their collegiality, the support of The Cairns Institute (JCU) and the Moesgaard Museum (AU) for providing me space to work and think, and to the support staff at JCU and AU who supplied me with (among other things) coffee and a clean workspace. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all my interlocutors and research participants, named and unnamed, without whom I would have no thesis: To Geoff McPherson who has taught me so much about acoustics and noise pollution. Thank you for being a constant ally in this project and providing much needed tech support. To JASCO Applied Sciences for providing background information and material on underwater noise pollution research in Australia and Canada. To the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for providing access and support for this project. To Mark McCormick for providing me access to his lab at JCU. To Gareth Philips at Reef Teach and Alan Wallish at Passions of Paradise for providing me such generous access to the Reef. Thank you to the entire Passions crew for being so kind and patient with me during my research trips. My time aboard Passions has been one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences of my candidature. To Scott Viers and Val Viers at Orcasound, Jason Wood, Jeanne Hyde, and Deborah Giles for sharing their wonderful experiences with orcas and sound in the United States. Special thanks to Scott and Val for providing me with some of the sound clips featured in this thesis. To University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories for providing me a place to stay on San Juan Island. To The Whale Museum for connecting me with the local research community. To Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society (SIMRES) and all the other residents of Saturna Island for sharing what make their island so inspiring. To Robert iii Bruce and Lorell Gienow (and their dog, Ozzie) for giving me a place to stay and fantastic meals while I was on Saturna. Your hospitality was beyond generous. To Capt. Larry Peck for being my go-to in organizing my visit and for guiding me all around the island. To Lauren McWhinnie for sharing all about the projects going on at SIMRES. To Anna Jalving, Adam Purdy, Ingibjörg Yr, and Jeremy Mayall for collaborating with Sebastian Lowe and me in creating Echoes from an Uncertain Reef. Working with the team, I was constantly astounded by the sheer talent and intellect that each artist brought to the project. I greatly appreciate their enthusiasm and patience. To Leah Barclay for helping build my understanding and appreciation for acoustic ecology and sound art. To Karen Cheer and Joshua Moore for being outstanding proofreaders. Any mistakes left in this thesis are my own. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who have supported and cared for me during my candidature. Thank you to my parents, Glen and Sandy, for their continuing love and support. Thank you to my brother Adam, sister Sharon, sister-in-law Erin, and niece Eden for all their encouragement. Thank you to my friend and housemate, Charles, who took the time to train me to become a scuba diver. Thank you to all my other friends for simply being there when I needed them. I love you all. I would like to acknowledge The American Association for the Advancement of Science, JASCO Applied Sciences, JCU Deep Reef Explorer, Natural Resource Council (US), Aquatic Mammals Journal, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (US) for providing me permission to use the figures which appear in this thesis. iv Statement of Contribution of Others Nature of Assistance Contributor Project Assistance Supervision A/Prof. Jennifer Deger (JCU) Prof. Ton Otto (JCU/AU) A/Prof. Heather Anne Swanson (AU) Prof. Annette Markham (AU) Financial Support (including College of Arts, Society and Education (JCU) stipend) Graduate Research School (JCU) College of Arts (AU) Editorial Support Karen Cheer Joshua Moore Proposal Writing Ben Menadue Scuba Diving Training Charles St-Germain Research Collaboration Passions of Paradise Reef Teach Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks Authority Geoff McPherson JASCO Applied Sciences Orcasound Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society Provision of Figures Figure 1 The American Association for the Advancement of Science (with permission) Figure 3, 5-9 MacGillray et al. 2014 authors (with permission) Figure 4 JCU Deep Reef Explorer (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0) Figure 10 National Resource Council (public domain) Figure 11 Aquatic Mammals Journal (with permission) Figure 13 IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering (with permission) Figure 14 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (public domain) Audio (excluding named voice contributors) Tracks 5, 7, 11 Orcasound Track 12 Anna Jalving, Adam Purdy, Ingibjörg Yr, Jeremy Mayall, Sebastian Lowe v Abstract The continuing crises of the Anthropocene have propelled an intensification in projects attempting to grasp the worlds of non-humans under the aegis of conservation. Heat, acidity, and turbidity have all been documented spectacularly for the Great Barrier Reef, most often visually. The stressors impacting the sonic world of the Reef have been substantially less documented resulting in a poor understanding of the role sound plays in the lifeways of marine organisms. This thesis is an exploration of the relationships between the people, the Great Barrier Reef, and noise with the aim to describe practices of listening that enable humans to perceive phenomena beyond their biological sensory affordances. In doing so, this project pays particular attention to the use of science, technology, and art in order to grasp non-human worlds. This thesis takes an ethnographic approach towards studying how interested listeners attempt to perceive and reconstruct the sonic marine world. Participant observation and interviews are paired with recording and creative practices to chart the (imperfect) ways listeners (including the author) attempt to grasp the sound worlds of marine beings. At focus are those listening practices developed by scuba divers, marine scientists, acousticians, and community groups. Sound and the perception of acoustic energy is vital for all marine vertebrates and many marine invertebrates. For many reef species and other marine organisms, sound is the primary pathway in which these creatures interact with each other and their environment. Much of this sound world remains inaccessible to human beings due to a combination of their limited capacity to hear in water and the inaccessibility of the marine environment. These facts