Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause has spent 40 years recording over 15,000 species in many of the world’s pristine habitats. Photograph: Courtesy of Hachette Book Group

For many of us, part of the joy of a walk in the woods is the range of senses engaged. The wind rustling through the trees is enhanced by the diversity of the creatures that call that ecosystem home. But with habitat loss due to either changing climate or other human impact. many of the sounds heard for millennia are falling silent.

Bernie Krause has spent his life archiving these sounds. They’re worth more than just a listen. They’re a call to action.

When musician and naturalist Bernie Krause drops his microphones into the pristine coral reef waters of Fiji, he picks up a raucous mix of sighs, beats, glissandos, cries, groans, tones, grunts, beats and clicks.

The water pulsates with the sound of creatures vying for acoustic bandwidth. He hears crustaceans, parrot fish, anemones, wrasses, sharks, shrimps, puffers and surgeonfish. Some gnash their teeth, others use their bladders or tails to make sound. Sea anemones grunt and belch. Every creature on the reef makes its own sound.

But half a mile away, where the same reef is badly damaged, he can only pick up the sound of waves and a few snapping shrimp. It is, he says, the desolate sound of extinction. Continue reading →