Get ready for the journey of a lifetime with these incredible soundscapes
Are you ready to experience the sounds of Canada like never before?
Wild Sounds of Canada is the newest addition to our incredible slate of Canadian Audible Originals, and it reminds us that wherever we are, we are all connected as Canadians. We share a country, we share a planet and even though we can’t travel like we used to, we can still enjoy this incredible audio journey.
We’ve touched on the power of listening before, and this series definitely embodies that philosophy, delivering the diverse sounds of Canada’s robust and varied natural environments in ways you’ve never heard. These episodes allow you to explore the lush geography and topography of this great country wherever you are.
Here, you’ll be able to reconnect with nature thanks to fun, lively and informative episodes created by top nature writers and nature audio producers. Each episode of the series serves as a guidebook to the land, while also honouring and acknowledging the Indigenous people who live there.
Hosted in English by Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, and brought to life in French by Laurence Lafond-Beaulne of the popular musical duo Milk & Bone — this title brings listeners on an incredible journey into the wilds of Canada.
Join Sarika Cullis-Suzuki
Host Sarika Cullis-Suzuki is an environmentalist and marine biologist. She has made a name for herself as a Canadian activist, speaker, author and host. As the daughter of the famous David Suzuki (she also serves as a board member of the David Suzuki Foundation), her name is synonymous with environmental storytelling. Here she guides listeners through 30-minute immersive sound experiences that take us to the farthest reaches of this country’s greatest natural locales.
Travel from scene to scene as Cullis-Suzuki provides fascinating and delightfully well-researched tidbits about the wild things that live in Canada and where to find them.
For Cullis-Suzuki, the experience of exploring Canada’s great wilderness landscapes is brought to life in a unique way through the act of listening. “I feel like when you're listening, when you are immersed in the audio realm, it really opens up a different part of your brain than, say, the visual world,” says Cullis-Suzuki of the series. “We can learn a lot about nature if we simply close our eyes and listen.”
The Soundscape Experience
Each episode is an intimate aural experience. The sound of a rushing stream might remind you of the creek you visited at your nearby park growing up. The sound of the rain against the leaves might remind you of your all-time favourite camping experience in one of Canada’s national parks. If you grew up in rural Canada, the sound of the animals captured in each incredible episode might remind you of the creatures you spotted throughout your life.
Let’s take a look — or rather, a listen — at the secret lives of thousands of species and unpack what you can expect to hear in each episode. You can also take a peek behind the scenes in the making-of video below.
Jasper National Park
Enjoy the buzz of springtime as you listen to the whirr of hummingbirds and the flap of orange-crowned kinglets frolicking over the pristine lakes of the Rocky Mountains. If you can’t be there, this is the next best thing.
Saskatchewan
Bask in an episode that takes place in the vast fields of Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park, where you’ll enjoy the musical notes of the Western meadowlark as well as the mournful cry of the coyotes in the distance. You’ll also listen in on a host of nocturnal animals who come out to play only when the sun goes down.
Yukon Territory
Imagine the Tombstone Mountain looming over you as giant herds of caribou go roaming past. Picture flocks of rare birds flying out over the rushing Klondike river. Let your mind soar to the clouds with this incredible soundscape that will make you feel like you’re there.
British Columbia
Nothing is more inviting than the sound of the waves crashing at your feet — especially as orcas exhale great plumes above the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Listen to the happy sounds of bears cracking into mussels and plainfin midshipments humming happily in the background. (In case you’re wondering, a midshipment is a type of toad fish!) It’s all here in this oceanside escapade of sound.
Manitoba
There’s nothing like the warm night air to bring out a cast of creatures and their unique calls. This episode treats listeners to the buzz of dragonflies whizzing past, the howl of predatory wolfpacks prowling across the lonesome hills and the calls of loons across the still, black waters of the prairie lakes. Dawn approaches and so does a host of wild animal sounds in this unforgettable episode.
Québec
Enjoy an episode that features a mother moose and her calf as they move through the forests of northern Québec. Bask in the sound of St. Lawrence humpbacks chatting happily to one another. Take in the warbles, caws and chirps of the boreal birds as they drink in the Saguenay River. This one’s a true feast for the ears.
Newfoundland
You’ll be escorted to listening bliss with this episode featuring Northern gannets plunging into the Atlantic, terns and harbor seals lounging by the seaside and brown bats chittering away in the evening calm. Then get ready for the pure volume of 25,000 birds preparing for chow time. It’s out of this world.
Ontario
Soak in the sound of your paddle dipping into the water on a quiet lake in Algonquin Provincial Park — as frogs croak and birds call to their kin. Finally, the lilting cry of the loons will cap it all off in this viscerally appealing episode.
Escape Into Listening
Take a deep breath and allow the listening to linger for a moment. Trade inboxes for inlets, frozen applications for frozen lakes, breaking news for breaking waves and get ready to explore these lush, lovingly captured soundscapes.
There’s nothing like a quiet, calming and naturalistic experience to help us set aside the chaotic schedule of today’s 24-hour news cycle and on-screen notifications and simply slow down. Let the stress slide away and sink into the serene sounds of Canada’s wilderness.
Join Cullis-Suzuki on a friendly walk through Canada’s most pristine and gorgeous natural settings, where the experience is not so much physical as it is spiritual. It is a therapeutic exploration of Canada’s natural bounty, and we believe that it is the perfect escape from today’s events.
These sounds and the gentle performance of Cullis-Suzuki’s narration transports us from our daily grind and gives us unique access to otherworldly spaces that we know exist, but might not have the opportunity to visit or enjoy for ourselves.
Content for Nature Lovers of Every Stripe
The best thing about Wild Sounds of Canada is that it’s got a little something for all kinds of Canadian listeners.
Travel Enthusiasts will enjoy this content because it allows them to explore the far-flung and fantastic ecosystems and natural landscapes of our great country, even from the comfort of their armchairs. Explorers, thrill seekers, and adventurers of all stripes will find something to love in these episodes.
Nature Buffs who are desperate to reconnect with the great outdoors will fall in love right away, as these episodes allow you to get lost in nature like never before.
The luscious soundscapes of this series make you feel like you’re really there. You can almost feel a waxy leaf between your fingers, the tickle of grass between your toes, or a light sea breeze at the back of your neck. Connoisseurs of flora and fauna will find a great deal of interesting facts about the natural world, as Cullis-Suzuki teaches us about these complex and beautiful ecosystems even as we take an audible journey through their soundscapes.
Escapists who are looking for a moment to get away will love each 30-minute excursion into a new listening wilderness. Take a moment for yourself at lunchtime or just before bed. Wherever you’re listening, close your eyes and disappear into another world with this Audible Canadian Original.
Close your eyes, open your ears, and take a walk across Canada’s great grasslands, wetlands, snow swept corridors and even deep underwater, as you explore this great country coast to coast to coast like never before.
Science Lovers will also love Wild Sounds of Canada. Whether you want to understand the speech patterns of whales in the St. Lawrence, the political underpinnings of wolf packs in the tundra, or the nocturnal hierarchies of boreal ecosystems, these episodes will pique your interest and drive you wild with curiosity.
ASMR Fans will be instantly intrigued as well, as this series brings all the goosebumps, shivers and tangible sensations of actually being out there in the wild. The crunch of boots in deep snow, the high-pitched squawk of mating birds, the thud of elk hooves on the frosty tundra, the thunderous cracks of a frozen lake melting away. All of these sounds and more await you in Wild Sounds of Canada.
Like so many great Canadian titles before it, this Canadian Original series brings Canada to life — but in a new audio format perfect for listening any time of day. With this incredible new series, Audible is inviting listeners to be transported on an intimate journey into Canada’s wilderness and its diverse array of wildlife.
As Cullis-Suzuki herself puts it, each episode will give listeners in Canada and from around the world a “bit of a break … a chance to go somewhere new, even if it's just for a few minutes … to take them away from their current soundscape and to listen to something a little more wild.”
And if you’re looking for more Canadian content to scratch your adventurer’s itch, be sure to check in on our blog every week to see what exciting paths we’ll be treading next.
