Can we hear the secret life of ponds?

Dec 1, 2025

36:37

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What happens if we let go of our expectations about nature – all the things we think it is, or isn’t, or should be – and just… listen?

Our guide into the unknown this week is award-winning sound artist and ecologist David de la Haye. I first met him at this year’s New Scientist Live in London: I was giving a talk about the science of awe and David came up to me afterwards to tell me about the awe he finds though his work with sound. Essentially he puts hydrophones into the water and records the submerged soundscapes of ponds. He calls it sonic pond dipping.

Rather than dissecting out individual noises or creatures – although that can provide valuable information – David’s work is primarily about listening to an ecosystem in an immersive and very personal way – almost like a meditation. He doesn’t stop at listening, though, he also answers back, creating music – often improvising in real time – with the ponds!

I asked him how he ended up listening underwater, and what he thinks we can learn from these tiny wild spaces that we so often overlook.

David’s home page

www.daviddelahaye.co.uk

Sonic pond dipping

https://sonic-pond.net/

With Ears Underwater

https://daviddelahaye.bandcamp.com/album/with-ears-underwater

Bionic and the Wires (a separate project where mushrooms and plants are wired up to play instruments)

https://bionicandthewires.com/

Clip 1: Pond at Wheatfen nature reserve, Norfolk, UK

Clip 2: Rockpool at Saint Abbs, Scotland

Clip 3: Underwater seals at Mingulay, Scotland