[Coral-List] Underwater loudspeakers could help restore damaged coral reefs

skimmer at octogroup.org skimmer at octogroup.org
Sat Dec 14 04:10:00 UTC 2019


Hi Esther,

We (The Skimmer on Marine Ecosystems and Management newsletter) just did a synthesis article on the impacts of ocean noise on marine ecosystems. You can check it out here: https://meam.openchannels.org/news/skimmer-marine-ecosystems-and-management/its-not-just-about-marine-mammals-anymore-how-ocean.

Best wishes,
Sarah Carr

___________________________

Sarah D. Carr, Ph.D.
Editor, The Skimmer on Marine Ecosystems and Management (formerly MEAM)
E-mail: skimmer at octogroup.org
Website: meam.openchannels.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> On Behalf Of Esther Peters via Coral-List
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2019 2:25 PM
To: sale at uwindsor.ca; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov; douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Underwater loudspeakers could help restore damaged coral reefs

 Thank you for sounding the alarm on this, Peter! I have been concerned that certain sound frequencies and decibels underwater may be harming our reef organisms more than we know. Sound waves generated by ship propellers, underwater construction, explosives for catching fishes, and loudspeakers for underwater concerts may be having subtle effects on the delicate cells of corals and other species. I am not sure anyone has done the studies that might provide data to support my hypothesis (I think microscopic examination of tissue samples will be a necessary component). Perhaps this study used sounds recorded and replayed on the test reefs at natural frequencies and decibels, not with any distortions or louder, but I certainly think we must be careful about anything we introduce into the reef environment, it may be more harmful than we know or will detect easily!

  
 Esther Peters, Ph.D.George Mason UniversityDepartment of Environmental Science and Policy
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Sale via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>; douglasfennertassi at gmail.com <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
Sent: Thu, Dec 5, 2019 12:36 pm
Subject: [Coral-List] Underwater loudspeakers could help restore damaged coral reefs

Doug and Coral List,
The media, helped perhaps by an overhyped press release, are at it again.  I'm referring to the sensational headline (The Telegraph, MSN, no doubt elsewhere also) that underwater loudspeakers will help restore coral reefs.  The research result (which is perfectly appropriate as science) tested whether patches built from dead coral could attract settling larval fishes more effectively if they sounded like real reef.  They apparently did.  But.  The artificial patches were just a few meters away from living coral.  The study did not follow fish for very long - patches were monitored over 6 weeks, and the species list, mainly damselfishes, included numerous species that normally recruit to rubble habitat.  The sounds resulted in about 3 times the number of young fish being counted on the treatment patches compared to the controls.

It's true that reef fishes of many species, particularly herbivores, can help maintain coral dominance relative to algae in reef habitat.  But to have the media trumpet the news that sounds will help restore reefs, based on these results,  is utter nonsense.  Getting rid of GHG emissions, and correcting the numerous local impacts on reefs, will help restore them.  At least we might expect criticism of such distortions on coral-list.  (I've not read the press release so do not know whether the authors encouraged this sensationalism by the media.)

Peter Sale
University of Windsor
sale at uwindsor.ca
petersalebooks.com
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