In a six-week field experiment, researchers placed underwater loudspeakers in patches of dead coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and played audio recordings taken from healthy reefs. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found twice as many fish flocked to the dead coral patches where healthy reef sounds were played compared with the patches where no sound was played. Severe coral bleaching triggered by extreme heat waves killed off 50 percent of the Great Barrier Reef, the planet’s largest coral reef, in 2016 and 2017. “Fish are crucial for coral reefs to function as healthy ecosystems,” said the study’s lead author, Tim Gordon, of the University of Exeter. “Boosting fish populations in this way could help to kick-start natural recovery processes, counteracting the damage we’re seeing on many coral reefs around the world.”AD

Source: Washington Post December 01, 2019 14:37 UTC