Water Boatmen

Lesser Water Boatmen

Ambience: hydrophone recordings of insects

The sounds were listening were recorded underwater in a pond in upstate NY. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Rothenberg: Even in the most ordinary ponds, toss in an underwater mic called a hydrophone, and you’ll hear an amazing world of sound.

David Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He listens to and sometimes performs with, all manner of critters who make sounds, including underwater insects.

Rothenberg: The most famous one is of course the lesser water boatman, which famously makes a sound so loud that when scientists first heard it, they wondered what was wrong with their equipment. There’s nothing that could be that loud in this pond. It turned out it was these little bugs. They’re one centimeter long. The lesser water boatmen. The males are vibrating their penises against their body. And they can make a sound about 90 decibels, almost as loud as a whale. And you hear nothing above the water. Nothing.

Body parts notwithstanding, I found this kind of hard to believe. But taking into account their size and scale, water boatmen are indeed among the loudest creatures on earth.

Rothenberg In fact the greater water boatmen, a much bigger bug, has enough problems in sense of inferiority, having to realize this tiny guy is a lot louder and his penis is a lot faster than the bigger water boatman.

In our next program we’ll hear some of the music David Rothenberg has created performing with underwater critters, including water boatmen. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Water Boatmen

Even in the most ordinary ponds you can hear an amazing world of sound.
Air Date:05/05/2022
Scientist:
Transcript:

Lesser Water Boatmen Ambience: hydrophone recordings of insects The sounds were listening were recorded underwater in a pond in upstate NY. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Rothenberg: Even in the most ordinary ponds, toss in an underwater mic called a hydrophone, and you'll hear an amazing world of sound. David Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He listens to and sometimes performs with, all manner of critters who make sounds, including underwater insects. Rothenberg: The most famous one is of course the lesser water boatman, which famously makes a sound so loud that when scientists first heard it, they wondered what was wrong with their equipment. There's nothing that could be that loud in this pond. It turned out it was these little bugs. They're one centimeter long. The lesser water boatmen. The males are vibrating their penises against their body. And they can make a sound about 90 decibels, almost as loud as a whale. And you hear nothing above the water. Nothing. Body parts notwithstanding, I found this kind of hard to believe. But taking into account their size and scale, water boatmen are indeed among the loudest creatures on earth. Rothenberg In fact the greater water boatmen, a much bigger bug, has enough problems in sense of inferiority, having to realize this tiny guy is a lot louder and his penis is a lot faster than the bigger water boatman. In our next program we'll hear some of the music David Rothenberg has created performing with underwater critters, including water boatmen. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.