Mapping Oysters and Making Oceans in the Northern Indian Ocean, 1880-1906

At the turn of the twentieth century, most of the world's pearls were extracted from rich oyster and coral reefs on the northern Indian Ocean rim. This paper returns to the sites of extraction, studying imperial maps made from 1889-1925 to delineate oyster reefs on the seafloor. Building from the submarine up, I draw on environmental, animal, and history of science studies to explore the work of mapping oceanic, animate space. Attending to the role of divers, whose labor was required to make the seafloor visible, and the lifecycles of oysters, which changed over time, I argue that the seafloor represents a kind of unruly terrain, out of both the reach and control of imperial authorities. The paper's final section meditates on reading humans as part of Indian Ocean landscapes and the possibilities this offers for further comparative, transnational work in a materialist vein.

Automated summary

This paper examines the process of mapping oceanic space through the study of historical imperial maps. It focuses on the role of divers and the lifecycles of oysters in the understanding of the seafloor terrain. The research reveals that the seafloor represents a challenging terrain that cannot be controlled by imperial authorities.