The islands

Sep 30, 2023, 07:12 AM

This is the soundscape of a healthy coral reef in the Red Sea in Egypt called the “Islands”. Is actually made up of two huge coral formations which only break the surface at extremely low tides, which made it easy for me to capture such cathedral sound quality.

It may sound like popcorns popping and hitting the lid of the pan, but the sound is actually produced by snapping shrimps. These small shrimps use their unique pincers to produce a very loud 'pop' of bubbles that's so powerful it can stun or kill small fish, which the shrimp eat. The popcornish sound is the result of lots of these shrimp hunting in the same area.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo.

Part of the Music for Sleep project - for more information and to hear more sounds from the collection, visit https://citiesandmemory.com/music-for-sleep/