Now in its final act, our Reef Song project has drawn sizeable and diverse crowds of reef critters 🐠🦀🐚🦪
How many species can you identify❓ Answers in the comments…
Back in 2021, the project established artificial ‘patch reefs’ in both Ningaloo and the northern Great Barrier Reef. These 1.1-metre-square structures, built from coral rubble and small living colonies of select coral species, became the epicentre of experiments into the soundscapes of the reef 🪸🎶
Reef Song set out to explore these soundscapes – the pops, grunts, crackles and croaks that make the melody of life on a coral reef.
One part of the project involved broadcasting recordings of these ‘reef songs’ from the patch reefs to see which aquatic audience gathered. Of particular interest were fish species, which play a key role in reef health. But as you can see in the video, plenty of other reef-critical critters booked tickets too.
Now this submerged symphony is fading out, the experiments wrapping up, and the scientists are crunching the data that will provide fascinating insights into the links between sound and reef health.
🔗 Hear more about the Reef Song project: https://www.aims.gov.au/research-topics/environmental-issues/climate-change/australian-coral-reef-resilience-initiative/reef-song-project
#reefsong #coralreefs #fish #marinescience
🎥 Shannon Duffy
