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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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Hauling in the nets.

Navalady, Batticaloa.

  • 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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