Why do we hear the sea in shells?

Can you really hear the sound of waves when you hold a shell to your ear? If only it could be true…

It’s summer, time for vacations and moments at the beach. Who has never put their ear to a shell to listen to the sea…

It is a reflex imbued with poetry and nostalgia, a childish gesture that smells of vacation, and which is transmitted and repeated over time: put your ear to a shell to hear the sea.

Absolutely not the sound of the waves

However, how would it be possible to hear the sea just by putting your ear to any seashell? Can the fact that he emerges from the waves in itself be enough for him to retain the memory of it within his empty shell?

The reality is much less romantic or aquatic: whatever one might want to imagine, it is unfortunately not the sound of the waves that one hears when making this gesture. Of course, one does hear sounds, but in reality they absolutely do not come from the sea.

A natural sounding board

But if it’s not the sound of waves that we hear, then what is it? Already, if you try it with an empty bottle, you will get the same result. Proof by example that it has absolutely nothing to do with the sound of the waves!

In fact, it’s all about the shape: bottle or shell, in both cases it is nothing more or less than a hollow and closed sound box. By definition, it will therefore amplify all the sounds it can capture. The larger the cavity, the lower they will be.

Myth or reality ? Yes, mermaids really did exist, but not in the way we imagine.

The shells of our shores
This determination guide, the sum of a lifetime of knowledge, is intended for both the beginner amateur and the specialist or conchophile. It allows you to answer the very simple question: “What is this shell called?”

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A grain of summer poetry

So, by sticking a shell against your ear, you simply hear yourself. This is the sound of your own blood circulation amplified by the hollow of the shell. Move the shell further away or closer to your ear, and you will see that the sound changes.

Ultimately, it is only an association of ideas generated by our brain, and a little touch of poetry, that makes us say that we can hear the sea in a shell. But who said that the most beautiful stories always have to be true?

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