About this episode
Melody Jue discusses the concept of ocean memory and its implications for understanding marine ecosystems and cultural histories.
The ocean is not empty. It is a vast storage facility of memory agents. Ocean bodies use the chemical signatures of seawater for memory and intelligence in ways we can barely imagine. In her Talk, Melody Jue said our struggle to understand ocean memory comes from our terrestrial bias. This bias shapes what we try to protect and the technologies we develop. We must, she said, “deterritorialize the sensorium.” For example, the vertical depths of the Pacific carry thermal signatures of ancient ice ages. Arctic glaciers are laced with matrices of microbes retaining genes from before the Great Oxidation Event. Whale songs are also memory agents, passed down through generations, preserving the cultural histories of the planet's largest creatures. Corals hold memory, too. Those exposed earlier to changing ocean pH are more resilient to acidification. Meanwhile, human cultural memory is in danger of disappearing alongside these ecosystems. Jue pointed to Indigenous and traditional environmental knowledge at risk, like the Ama divers’ fishing tradition, as abalone populations drop. To better translate the ocean sensorium, Jue worked with interdisciplinary artists, musicians, divers, and…
People in this episode
Guest: Melody Jue
Topics covered
- ocean memory
- environmental knowledge
- cultural history
- interdisciplinary collaboration
- chemical signatures
- resilience
Keywords
- ocean memory
- chemical signatures
- cultural history
- resilience
- interdisciplinary
- soundscapes
- environmental knowledge
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Long Now Foundation
Books & works: Ama divers’ fishing tradition
Places: Pacific, Arctic
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