Sing Like Fish

How Sound Rules Life Under Water

By: Amorina Kingdon

Narrated by: Angelina Rocca

A captivating exploration of how underwater animals tap into sound to survive, and a clarion call for humans to address the ways we invade these critical soundscapes—from an award-winning science writer

“Sing Like Fish is that rare book that makes you see the world differently.”—Mark Kurlansky, New York Times bestselling author of Salt and Cod

LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION

For centuries, humans ignored sound in the “silent world” of the ocean, assuming that what we couldn’t perceive, didn’t exist. But we couldn’t have been more wrong. Marine scientists now have the technology to record and study the complex interplay of the myriad sounds in the sea. Finally, we can trace how sounds travel with the currents, bounce from the seafloor and surface, bend with the temperature and even saltiness; how sounds help marine life survive; and how human noise can transform entire marine ecosystems.

In Sing Like Fish, award-winning science journalist Amorina Kingdon synthesizes historical discoveries with the latest scientific research in a clear and compelling portrait of this sonic undersea world. From plainfin midshipman fish, whose swim-bladder drumming is loud enough to keep houseboat-dwellers awake, to the syntax of whalesong; from the deafening crackle of snapping shrimp, to the seismic resonance of underwater earthquakes and volcanoes; sound plays a vital role in feeding, mating, parenting, navigating, and warning—even in animals that we never suspected of acoustic ability.

Meanwhile, we jump in our motorboats and cruise ships, oblivious to the impact below us. Our lifestyle is fueled by oil in growling tankers and furnished by goods that travel in massive container ships. Our seas echo with human-made sound, but we are just learning of the repercussions of anthropogenic noise on the marine world’s delicate acoustic ecosystems—masking mating calls, chasing animals from their food, and even wounding creatures, from plankton to lobsters.

With intimate and artful prose, Sing Like Fish tells a uniquely complete story of ocean animals’ submerged sounds, envisions a quieter future, and offers a profound new understanding of the world below the surface.

©2024 Amorina Kingdon (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Fluidly marrying personal reflection and observation with science and history and illuminated by fascinating facts and moments of beauty and grace, Sing Like Fish is both a love song to the wonders of the underwater world and a reminder of the vulnerability of the extraordinary beings that inhabit it.”—James Bradley, author of Deep Water: The World in The Ocean

“Amorina Kingdon’s Sing Like Fish is that rare book that makes you see the world differently, at least the two thirds that is ocean. For someone like me, who has always loved and tried to understand the sea, this fascinating book makes you feel closer to the life that is teeming there.”—Mark Kurlansky, New York Times bestselling author of Salt and Cod

“Those of us of a certain age grew up on Jacques Cousteau’s mischaracterization of the ocean as a ‘silent world.’ Luckily for us, in this wondrous book Amorina Kingdon skillfully conveys the aural textures and messaging that fills the vast liquid world within our world.”—Carl Safina, New York Times bestselling author of Alfie & Me

Good solid science mixed with storytelling.

The author did a laudable job breaking down the basic science elements of acoustics both in air and aqueous environments. Without dumbing it down overmuch, she did a good job explaining why cruise ships, boat/ship traffic, percussion pilings and other elements are a risk to the quiet of the sea. Well done.