Butterflies, puffins, whales and Pembrokeshire ponies are a selection of the many wild animals that call Pembrokeshire home. However, perhaps the most notable wild animal to reside here is the Atlantic grey seal. While the grey seals are an exciting sight for many people, this eagerness to get up close and personal can cause major disturbance for seals and their pups. How can we find the balance between engaging in our curiosity towards wild animals and avoiding causing disruption?
Our aim is to explore how we can approach Mary Midgley’s idea of the permeable human-species barrier through listening to mitigate such risks. Midgley’s mixed community is a framework that springboards from human-animal relations as always-already integral to our relationship with others. The fact that wild living animals listen is a crucial part of Midgley’s approach to shift from what divides us from other animals and the natural world, to what we share. Listening is a key tenet of our similarities with other animals and part of how we order and shape our lives. Non-human life listens, in terms of detection, coordination and collective thriving. For example, human disturbances such as loud noise will alarm seals causing them to flee for protection. This can be particularly detrimental during breeding seasons, where mothers may abandon their pups to protect themselves from human disturbances. Midgley stressed an emotional porousness of the human species barrier. She argues that humans are not indifferent towards the lives of other animals. Our relationships with animals cultivate our capacity for extended sympathy, playful inquiry and curiosity, and dynamic potential for cross-species entanglements. This is not limited to domesticated animals but extends to all animals who listen. How can we use listening to cross the human-species barrier and form mixed communities grounded in compassion and respect?
