Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (USA) have found a way to help regenerate coral reefs by broadcasting recorded sounds from a healthy coral reef to attract coral larvae to settle on the deteriorating coral reef.

A healthy coral reef will have lots of low-frequency sounds from the fish and shrimp that wriggle around, while a degraded reef has fewer active creatures and is therefore quieter, said lead author Nadege Aoki (pictured, left). Coral larvae often rely on a number of signals emitted from coral reefs to find a place to settle.

According to the experimental results, in one of the two degraded coral reefs that was installed with a loudspeaker system playing recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs, the rate of coral larvae settling there was 1.7 times higher than average and more than 7 times higher than in the other coral reef that was not installed with loudspeakers.

The world's coral reefs support about a quarter of all marine species as well as millions of people who rely on marine ecosystems for food and income.

PEARL