Interactive exhibits are ubiquitous in museums, aquariums and science centers because they present an opportunity for guests to learn and have fun. As part of a graduate class (Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences) I designed an interactive exhibit at the Birch Aquarium in San Diego, CA to teach guests about the different sources of underwater sound that together, compose a soundscape.

 

Underwater DJ

Aquarium guests learn about acoustic ecology and become "Underwater DJs" by orchestrating their own soundscapes. A web-based platform allows users to practice their DJ skills with soundscapes from tropical, polar, and coastal habitats.

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The exhibit was designed with the following learning objectives in mind:

• There are three sources of sound underwater: anthropogenic, biological and geological

• Sound is important to many animals to find food, mates and suitable habitat, as well as to avoid predators

• Underwater human noise can affect animals through disrupting normal behavior, causing displacement or stress, and altering their ability to find conspecifics, food or predators

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