Beneath the North Pole ice

In July 2024 at 90° N my acoustic equipment slid into a hole 15 cm in diameter that our team had drilled into the sea ice. Midnight sun tossed shadows at the fog, slowing the wind just enough. My fingers trembled, but not from the frigid temperatures. I couldn't imagine what I might hear here, beneath the ice floes at the top of the world. Science aside for a moment; icy droplets blurred white and blue ice, and my headphones hung in my hand at my side. Awe and wonder gratefully stole time. 

The underwater radiated noise (URN) emanating from the icebreaker that brought me to this place dominated the acoustic symphony for only a few seconds before geological and biological signals took centre stage and I listened to the otherworldly sounds of animals that make their homes below and on the crackling ice at the top of the world. As I listened, I wondered how life here was dealing with rising temperatures, with thinning ice ... with way too many melt ponds.

Recorded by Andrea Lynn.