This work was created in response to proposed seismic testing, involving air guns firing sound at very high levels towards the sea floor, in the Otway Basin off the coasts of Victoria where animals including endangered Pygmy Blue and Southern Right whales live and breed. The proposal has since been denied thanks to community efforts, but seismic testing remains an ongoing threat to our marine ecosystems. ‘Seismic Test’ explores the impact of humanity on our oceans, and encourages listeners to reconsider their relationship to these depths.
The sound and words in this piece are by Jasmine Griffiths and the voice is by Sophie Harvey. The soundscapes heard in this work feature a combination of designed sounds and field recordings from Victoria’s coasts, including Ninety Mile Beach in Gippsland, the Surf Coast and the Bellarine Peninsula, on the unceded lands of the Gunaikurnai and Wadawarrung peoples.
-
Seismic Test
Jasmine Griffiths
[the sound of the ocean shore, wind and water]The beach is a boundary between land and sea
You don't need me to tell you that, you already know
It marks the edge of where we can reasonably, easily go, without brine filling our shoes and sea grass catching on our ankles, trailing behind like flags in the water[we can hear large waves]
The ocean is not our domain
[seagulls]
You certainly don't need me to tell you that it is neither hostile nor friendly
And it is no more suited to our presence than we are suited to its pounding swell
[seagulls and sounds of large waves]
or subtle life that swirls in the shallows
The pipi shells that make their burrows beneath the sand could be as far from us as lunar soil,
but still they lie in wait for rising tides
[ocean sounds stop]
And sound travels far beneath the waves
[there are small clicking sounds, pops under water]
The water is so close, pressing in from all around
There is no space down here for you to breathe
But there is peace in that
There is life in this quiet
And many other creatures fill the seas, alien to us, but living and breathing, each in their own way
They speak, though we may not hear, and do not care to listen
And though we do not hear their chatter, still we see fit to reply
[a big blasting sound]
And never mind the damage that is done,
because we seek the treasure beneath the sea[another big blast]
And we will scour the sea floor 'til we find it
And we will dig until we have unearthed it
And the earth should tremble and the seas should rise
The water should fill with a scream so loud it drives the animals all from their homes[another blast]
You don't need me to tell you that
And no other creature should call the ocean home, except we who claim every place for our own, to take
[another blast]
or to leave