Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (USA) have found a way to help regenerate coral reefs by broadcasting recorded sounds from a healthy coral reef to attract coral larvae to settle on the degenerating coral reef.
A healthy coral reef will have lots of low-frequency sounds from the fish and shrimp that wriggle around, while a degraded reef has fewer active creatures and is therefore quieter, said lead author Nadege Aoki (pictured, left). Coral larvae often rely on a number of signals emitted from coral reefs to find a place to settle.
According to the experimental results, in 1 of the 2 degraded coral reefs installed with a loudspeaker system playing recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs, the rate of coral larvae settling there was 1.7 times higher than average and 7 times higher than in the other reef that was not installed with loudspeakers.
The world 's coral reefs support about a quarter of all marine species as well as millions of people who rely on marine ecosystems for food and income.
MINH CHAU
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