It’s no secret that coral reefs are one of nature’s most magnificent wonders, but climate change, overfishing, and pollution have severely damaged these ecosystems. Now, in an effort to save our coral reefs, Google is teaming up with marine biologist Steve Simpson and marine ecologist Mary Shodipo to launch a new citizen science project called “Calling in Our Corals.”
The project aims to monitor the health of coral reefs by planting underwater hydrophones, which will record the sounds 24/7. Participants can listen to these recordings on an online platform and identify sounds made by fish, shrimp, and other marine creatures. And if enough people contribute to the program, Google would then use this data to train its AI and automate the process.
“In some locations, our research involves placing sound recorders inside marine protected areas (where there is no fishing) and in nearby fished areas for comparison to listen in on the benefits of protection. In other locations, we are comparing sites that have declined due to overfishing and poor water quality with those where we are actively restoring coral reefs by replanting corals and rebuilding habitats,” said Simpson.
How will this project protect coral reefs?
With climate change not slowing down, increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have caused ocean acidification, which has led to mass coral bleaching. Therefore, with these soundscapes, scientists can identify how climate change has impacted every reef by analyzing the creatures that live there. By doing this, they can make calls on how to rebuild those populations and restore the biodiversity of the reef.
Moreover, to help people educate on what different marine animals sound like, each recording on the platform will also be paired with a spectrogram, which will show the spectrum of frequencies of the recorded sound waves. As a result, volunteers will also be able to learn the difference between creatures with higher and lower-frequency sounds.
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Source: ndroidheadlines.com