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The Singing Fish of BatticaloaThe Singing Fish of Batticaloa

Photographs by Kannan Arunasalam, Cicely Fell, Thangavel Sakthiyalingam

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“We used to be able to hear the music above the water. Now there is more traffic on the lagoon…”

Local fishermen say the music can be still be heard around the underwater rocks.

  • Since the 18th Century, fishermen of the Batticaloa lagoon in eastern Sri Lanka have navigated by the sound of singing fish.
  • The Tamil fishermen’s ancient name for the musical creature is oorie coolooroo cradoo (crying shell).
  • In Tamil the word veeserathu means to throw.
  • “We used to be able to hear the music above the water. Now there is more traffic on the lagoon…”
  • “It is said to be heard the clearest on a quiet night, when the moon is at the full…”
  • “One must go by boat, plunge an oar below the waters, put the oar-handle to one’s ear, and listen…”
  • “Everybody thinks it’s a myth. They laugh. “Singing Fish? You’re trying to pull not one leg, but both my legs…”
  • “One note here, then another note five or six yards away. After a few minutes, it was beautiful, like an orchestra.”
  • In 1953, two American Jesuit priests recorded the singing fish using a homemade hydrophone.
  • During Sri Lanka’s 30-year civil war, all research into the singing fish was stopped.
  • It is only among the local fishermen that some knowledge of the singing fish has survived.
  • “Even in the dark, when we pull a fish from the water, we can tell what it is by the sound it makes.”
  • Sangarapillai Vairamuthu, a night fisherman from Batticaloa, listens to underwater music using an oar-handle.
  • “During 30 years of local conflict, the idea itself got lost into the air. Now we want to hear the music again.”
  • “I’m interested in science, so I want to identify the creature in order to preserve it.”
  • Meanwhile, the life of Batticaloa’s fishing community goes on as usual…
  • Hauling in the nets.
  • Storm clouds over Navalady, Batticaloa.
  • “We are between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
  • The fishermen of Batticaloa are struggling to make ends meet…
  • Night fisherman on the Batticaloa lagoon.
  • A singing fish fountain outside a ruined school in the fishing village of Navalady, Batticaloa.
  • “I was on pins, listening… has this great wonder disappeared or is it still on?”
  • “The mystery of the fish that sing is far from being laid aside. It may be on for many years to come.”

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