Turtle Pond by scutopus

Turtle Pond is a serene, shallow pond found on the Green conservation land parcel in Falmouth, Massachusetts. I was not expecting to hear the sounds which became these recordings due to how calm a setting it is--the pond is found in a kettle hole with steep embankments on most sides, which seems to dampen the sounds coming from afar. The hydrophone picked up a polyrhythmic chorus of underwater creatures--likely some kind of insect or insect larva--for which the only reference point I had was the complex rhythms of a gathering of spring peepers or crickets.

The two recordings were made on days with different temperatures, the second one having been the warmer day. I suspect this might affect the rate at which the creatures create their rhythms, as the second recording is faster-paced. The first recording was taken at the mid-section of the pond, while the second was made at the eastern end, and both were recorded around dusk. The second recording is louder than the first, and both recordings are monaural.

"The diet is not known; fecal material contains organic (?) crystals and perhaps sediment particles. The radula morphology suggests that the diet is particle-size dependent, possibly detritus." -Scheltema 1981.

Aplacophoran by Chuck Stern.

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