Microphones dropped into ocean off Greenland to record melting icebergs

An iceberg off eastern Greenland. Hydrophones are being lowered to different levels and temperatures to record earthquakes, landslides, wildlife, pollution and meltwater, creating an archive of the ‘ocean’s memory’. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

An expedition of scientists and an artist is deploying underwater microphones in the ocean off Greenland to record and preserve the soundscape of melting icebergs.

The hydrophones will record sounds every hour for two years before being collected, harvested for data and the recordings turned into an acoustic composition.