Why do people say that the sound you hear when you put your ear to a conch shell is the ocean?

Question

Is there some kind of folktale or myth where that originates?

I've always wondered.

Answer 1

that the sound in your ear reflcting the sound in the shell

Answer 2

If you put any "snail type" sea shell to your ear (except for very small ones) you will hear a sound which slightly resembles the distant sound of the sea.

We did it with whelk shells when I was a boy, and I did it with my children on seaside holidays.    You could kid them they were bringing a bit of the sea back home with them in the shell.  (Parents tell children such rubbish.  No wonder they grow up strange!)

We don't find conch shells naturally in the UK but some seaside gift shops sell imported ones.  It works better with a conch because it is larger.

There's no legend or mythology, as far as I know, it's just to do with the movement of air in the spirals of the shell which creates the noise.  ...And parents wanting to entertain kids.

Answer 3

Kuz it sounds like the ocean.

I hope there is a legend about it. That'd be neat!

Answer 4

Bee ,

You can create the same effect by cupping your hand over your ear...

yet,...there is some romance in thinking that the sea is forever trapped inside the shell calling to the listener...

Enjoy that perspective for the scientific side has no imagination.....Have fun!

Answer 5

It echoes back all the noise around you... and it kinda sounds like the ocean :] or at least that's what it always reminded me of..

Answer 6

coz ther idiots

Answer 7

If you've ever put your ear up to one, the shape of the shell traps sound inside it, and bounces it around. It sounds like ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore. As to where it originated...I have no idea!

Answer 8

it sounds like rushing water, and shells come from the sea. It's really just air moving in the shell.