Listening to coral reefs

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, and also some of the noisiest. Up close, a healthy reef teems with trills, whoops, buzzes, hums and snaps made by the diverse lifeforms that inhabit it. But as many reefs are now degrading due to rising temperatures, their sound signatures are changing.

Conservationist Rory Crawford meets marine scientists who believe these sounds could provide a new way of monitoring the health of coral reefs, and boosting their resilience. He listens in to soundscapes that have been recorded around reefs in diverse parts of the world, and hears a selection of the sometimes surprising noises that have been picked up by researchers’ hydrophones.

Sounds are crucial to underwater species and a healthy-sounding reef will attract fish and other organisms to settle on it, so is it possible to use acoustics to boost the ecosystem on damaged coral?

Underwater recordings courtesy of: Tim Lamont/University of Exeter, Ben Gottesman, The Centre for Global Soundscapes, and Discovery of Sound in the Sea

Producer: Anne McNaught Editor: Deborah Cohen

Picture: The underwater world of Philippines, Southeast Asia, Pacific Ocean, Credit: Giordano Cipriani/Getty Images

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to tell you why I love podcasting.
0:04.4	I'm Sasha Johansson, I'm an Assistant Commissioner for the BBC and I work on making podcasts.
0:11.1	My real passion is discovering unbelievable unheard stories and working with the biggest
0:16.9	stars who can really bring those stories to life.
0:20.0	I love the whole process of making podcasts from the spark of an idea to hearing the final
0:25.9	edit.
0:26.9	There's nothing like it.
0:27.9	What makes BBC podcast special is that we're working for you, so whatever we commission
0:32.6	has to reflect the things that you care about and love, wherever you are in the UK.
0:37.0	So if you like this BBC podcast, there's so much more to discover.
0:40.6	Have a listen on BBC Sounds.
0:42.6	Hello, I'm Rory Crawford.
0:45.0	I'm a conservationist, a lapsed marine biologist and what I would describe as a seabird
0:50.0	nerd in particular, but in this edition of Discovery from the BBC World Service, I'm
0:55.6	going under the water.
0:57.8	To find out about coral reefs and what the sounds of these reefs can tell us about their
1:03.0	health.
1:08.2	If you're used to seeing coral reefs on TV documentaries or you're familiar with the
1:12.4	undersea pioneer Jacques Cousteau's silent world, you might have the impression that
1:16.8	reefs are quiet, otherworldly places, but nothing could be further from the truth.
1:23.4	We've got these rhythms, super, super saturated.
1:28.0	All these creatures, they all produce sounds like a symphony, so many different instruments.
	...

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