Biofouled Histories: The Multispecies Intimacies of Ocean Infrastructure

This paper considers the history of techniques developed to address the problem “biofouling,” the accumulation of organisms like barnacles, sponges, algae, and corals on man-made technologies and infrastructure. In particular, it extends the concept of biofoul beyond the confines of the marine industries and into the realm of environmental media studies. I examine early antifouling techniques on ship hulls such as lead sheathing and copper paints, putting them into conversation with recent underwater infrastructural developments and the more ambiguous relationships between humans and biofoulers today. I contend that throughout human history, antifouling technologies have played a key role in the expansion of global capital. Meanwhile, fictional as well as in scientific mediations of the sea have tended to embed notions of settler colonialism, monstrosity, and infrastructural terrorism onto biofouled humanoids, while simultaneously producing a sense of wonderment and spectacle. Such representations often reflect and displace the foulness of humanity itself. Analyzing moments of antifouling technology development alongside cultural demonizations of “clammy matter,” I ultimately argue that thinking through biofouling leads us to consider the multispecies coproduction of technological history.