The Blue Mussel’s Voice

English. Abstract: Globally, marine ecosystems are under pressure, losing species and ecosystem functions. On land – along the world’s renewed waterfronts, humans have re-moved themselves from belonging to the sea. So far, the tendency in Norway is a development based on human interests. An alternative approach is to embrace the interests of other species, including the marine beings in multispecies cities. Building multispecies cities demands a questioning of the relationships between nonhuman others and urbanscapes: such as, what does it mean to include other-than-humans as participants in shared social worlds? Yet, is it worthwhile reaching out to organisms we cannot communicate with, and that most likely do not need our presence? How can we listen to critters other than us, and how can this make sense within urban development? In seeking answers to these questions, this essay is dedicated to one small and challenged creature—the blue mussel. To reach an understanding of the urban tidalscapes, we must go beyond earth-bound senses. Possible interaction and care for blue mussels and other sea creatures, are explored through close one-on-one encounters with marine life, inspired by Rachel Carson’s ethic of wonder. Moreover, in order to physically make space for life below water, a diversity-enhancing marine landscape architecture is proposed; a concept arising from artistic visions in exchange with marine biology, the tidal landscape and the sea creatures themselves.

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