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Families celebrating Australia Day at Matilda Bay on Thursday will be able to hear music while they swim in the Swan River, thanks to a group of young scientists from The University of Western Australia.

The team from the UWA Woodside FutureLab RiverLab will be setting up speakers under the water which will be able to be heard from 50 metres away – but only if your head is under the surface.

The music will be playing on 135 Watt Clark Synthesis underwater speakers between the pontoons in Matilda Bay between 3pm and 4pm, playing Triple J’s hottest 100 and other music. The project has environmental approval to ensure minimal impact on aquatic life.

UWA student Justin Geldard-Ker says you won’t be able to hear the music unless you take a swim.

“It’s a bit of underwater entertainment for Australia Day,” he said.

“You’ll be able to hear it better under water if you equalize your ears. The easiest way to do this is to swallow, or pinch your nose and blow.”

The research team will be on shore to answer any questions.

The speakers are part of a larger collection of equipment used by the UWA Woodside FutureLab RiverLab, a community of industry experts, established academics and students from a variety of disciplines at UWA, undertaking unique and innovative experiments in the Swan River.

The speakers will eventually be used within RiverLab to explore links between neuroscience and biology. This includes investigating how aquatic life assesses and acts upon sensory information such as sound from natural and human-created sources.

Currently there are seven undergraduate students undertaking research within the RiverLab team with more projects and students starting this year. The first project completed as part of the RiverLab was the measurement and analysis of waves in the Swan River and comparing the wave climate to prototype conditions and numerical models. This will enable future model scale testing of floating structures.

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media Manager)                                          (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716