meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Science Quickly

Fishy Trick Lures Life Back to Coral Reefs

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.31.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2019

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Playing the sounds of a healthy reef near damaged corals may help bring the fish community back. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

May I have your attention please you can now book your train tickets on Uber and get

0:08.0

10% back in credits to spend on your next Uber ride so you don't have to walk home in the rain again.

0:15.0

Trains, now on Uber. T's and C's apply. Check the Uber app.

0:20.0

This is scientific American's 60 Second Science.

0:27.0

I'm Christopher Intagata.

0:29.0

Colorful corals may be the stars of the reef,

0:32.0

but they can't thrive without a huge supporting

0:34.4

cast.

0:35.4

The fish perform a load of really important roles on a coral reef.

0:39.2

Tim Gordon, a marine biologist at the University of Exeter.

0:42.4

He says some fish graze on seaweed, clearing space for

0:45.3

new corals, others control whole food chains. But when reefs are bleached or damaged, the fish flee, and the reef

0:51.8

suffers.

0:52.7

So how do you get them back?

0:54.2

Well, one trick may be to play them the sounds

0:56.8

of a healthy, vibrant reef. Gordon and his colleagues played that symphony of snapping shrimp and

1:10.7

whooping, croaking fish on underwater speakers for six weeks at a test

1:15.6

reef built off the coast of Australia.

1:18.0

And at the end of the trial, twice as many fish were living at that vibrant sounding reef,

1:22.2

compared to identically built reefs

1:23.7

outfitted with dummy speakers or no speakers at all.

1:26.8

So fish from every level of the food chain, so herbivores and plantivores and

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Scientific American, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Scientific American and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.