![]() ![]() "The overfishing of mesopredators, like snapper and grouper, causes herbivorous damselfish populations to increase, while some species of herbivorous damselfish will actively kill coral to grow their algae gardens," says Munger. The various sounds heard from different species of damselfish in particular can tell us a lot about the health of an ecosystem. We hear the vibrancy of the reef come back."ĭamselfish are also prevalent at most coral reefs – and are used as indicator species for both healthy and degraded reefs. Where we are setting up marine protected areas, we hear the communities return. Then you see more obvious bright, colourful animals decline afterwards. "You're hearing them dying on the inside. ![]() "Healthy, vibrant environments start to go quiet, sometimes before you see the change," he says. Simpson says his team has heard reefs die, but also recover. Listening to the presence or absence of noises made by various creatures can give a good indication of whether it is healthy or degraded. Teeming with life, a healthy coral reef is one of the noisiest places in the ocean. There has also been a "gold rush" of other sensory research in the decades since Simpson first started listening to the ocean, he says, with researchers observing how underwater creatures use everything from smell and magnetism to solar and lunar compasses to navigate their world. Researchers compared audio from over 250 sites, creating a snapshot of the global ocean soundscape at one moment in time. ![]() On 8 June, scientists all around the world took part in a global study of aquatic sound for World Oceans Passive Acoustic Monitoring Day. And, this year, saw a world first collaboration in underwater sound recording. There are now thousands of underwater recorders in the world's oceans. To begin with hydrophones were prohibitively expensive, says Simpson, but prices have dropped in the past decade and it's become possible for researchers to have 20 or 30 hydrophones. Seawilding: the Scottish community reviving a loch.The scientists coaxing back nature with sound."But when we put an underwater microphone into the reef it comes alive, giving us a whole new dimension." "If we concentrate when we're diving, we can hear animals all around us," says Steve Simpson, a professor of marine biology and global change at the University of Bristol in the UK. Hydrophones can be deployed for days or weeks at a time, giving scientists a real-time look at marine life behaviour, movements and response to environmental changes. Underwater sound recorders, known as hydrophones, offer researchers a low-cost, non-invasive way to monitor life in the world's murkiest marine environments. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), meanwhile, have evolved over millions of years to use a variety of complex sounds to help them navigate, communicate with each other and mate. Of the almost 250,000 known marine species, scientists think all fully-aquatic marine mammals emit sounds, as well as at least 100 invertebrates and 1,000 fish species.įish and invertebrates use sound for basic life functions – take the tiny oyster larvae which use sound to guide them to a healthy reef. In this piece, BBC Future Planet delves into some of the most fascinating recordings from beneath the waves, and allows you to hear them for yourself. New aquatic species are being discovered all the time, providing valuable information on ocean communities – and the biodiversity which is essential for all life on Earth. Meanwhile, others are as-yet unidentified. Recordings of already-known species are helping them to monitor changes in ocean ecosystems due to climate change and other human impacts. In recent years, new technologies – especially artificial intelligence – have allowed researchers to begin listening in to the songs of the ocean in a way they never have before. A lack of knowledge of ocean life is considered one of the biggest barriers to restoring this marine biodiversity. Scientists believe just 10% of ocean species have been found, with around two million remaining undiscovered.Įven as we uncover new species, however, marine life is being damaged by overfishing, pollution and climate change. But there are still huge gaps in our knowledge of ocean life. The ocean covers almost two thirds of world's surface and plays a critical role in supporting life on our planet – from the air we breathe and the food we eat, to weather and climate patterns.
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