Coral Reef Acoustics: Using sound to study tropical waters

Coral reefs are hot spots of biodiversity and are an acoustically rich and varied environment. Fishes and benthic invertebrates, such as snapping shrimp, produce sounds during courtship and reproduction as well as incidental sounds during feeding. Rain and boats also can be heard underwater.

Researchers at the University of Liege, Belgium use these sounds to characterize coral reefs and study how habitats change with depth and other environmental features. They seek to understand how larvae living in the open ocean use sound to locate reefs where they will live as juveniles and adult fish. Loggerhead equipment is critical for documenting these soundscapes.