After hearing a variety of sounds from animals, marine biologists who were examining the project to restore a coral reef that was damaged have been stunned.
An expert team has been studying the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Project at the Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia. This was done to see if aquatic life is recovering from the restored reef.
And during their study, the marine biologists discovered a number of sounds being given off by animals that have never been recorded before, the Guardian reports.
Coral reef animals are home to many young creatures who use sound waves in their infancy as a way of locating where they belong after exploring more open water.
Speaking about the newly-discovered sounds, study lead Dr Tim Lamont, of the University of Exeter, said: ‘We’ve been listening to reefs going into silence as they degrade. The change in direction at this site of restoration was fascinating and inspiring.
A range of sounds were made by the animals that returned to their habitat when marine biologists examined a project to revive a dead coral reef.
“As our ears listened to the recordings for hours, hours upon hours we were able to hear sounds that we’d never heard.” While some sounds were familiar, others were not. There was an incredible sense of adventure, discovery and excitement.
Dr Lamont stated that the sounds recorded were evidence of a diverse range of marine wildlife returning to the reef being rebuilt.
The sound he added, that sounded almost like a foghorn captured his attention. However, the team couldn’t determine what animal was making the noise.
Blast fishing, where explosives are used to shock or kill wildlife around the Spermonde archipelago has caused the destruction of the Spermonde coral reef.
Published in Journal of Applied Ecology. The study covered around 10 acres of recovered reefs.
Although signs are encouraging, Dr Lamont cautioned that the complete restoration of the region would require a longer time.
An expert team has been studying the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Project at the Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia. This was done to see if aquatic wildlife is recovering from the restored reef (stock photo).
However, he said that the diverse nature of the recordings sounds indicated that the restorations had a biodiversity similar to the areas left untouched by blast fishing.
The team working to restore the coral reef in Indonesia are using ‘Reef Stars’ to recover 45 acres which had decayed to a ‘killing field’ of just rubble.
The Reef Star, a steel structure made from locally-sourced materials that has been coated with sand and planted at the seafloor in order to promote coral growth is called a Reef Star.
Young coral use the structure as a support to help them settle into the beds and grow.
For two years, the team has been using Reef Stars to regrow coral in what is the ‘world’s largest coral reef restoration program,’ and have unveiled their progress in what they call the ‘Hope Reef.’
The coral cover is now up to 55%-55% off Sulawesi’s coast. Fish abundance and diversity have increased, and species such as sharks and fish are back.
Infancy is a crucial time for many coral reef-living animals. After venturing into open oceans, they use sound waves to find their home (stock image).
Although the reef is the biggest in the world it has also been damaged by human intervention.
People who call this region their home depend on it for survival.
The researchers hope to restore the whole reef by 2029. It is currently flourishing thanks to brightly colored corals and other marine life, who fled an area once considered a deserted landscape.
An earlier study this year found that coral reefs have been reduced in size by over half since 1950, due to global warming, overfishing, and pollution.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia performed the largest global assessment of the effects of these changes on the ‘ecosystems services’.
This is the capacity of coral reefs provide vital benefits to human beings.
Researchers found that coral reef cover has been decreasing in both ecosystem services as well as a 60% loss in biodiversity and biomass for fish.
They warned that continued degrading of the world’s reef systems could threaten the health and development of reef-dependent communities along the coast.
Blast fishing has caused the destruction of the Spermonde Archipelago’s reef. This involves using explosives in order to shock or kill any wildlife (stock image).
Tyler Eddy of Memorial University of Newfoundland said, “Coral Reefs are important habitats of biodiversity and can be particularly sensitive to temperature change, because marine heat waves may cause bleaching events.”
“Coral Reefs offer important ecosystem services for humans through fisheries and economic opportunities, as well as protection against storms.
The study was conducted by Dr Eddy with colleagues. It included a global assessment of coral reef trends and related ecosystem services. This analysis took into account the amount of coral reef cover, associated biodiversity, and fisheries catches.
The researchers also examined differences in the fishing practices across the food chain, and the seafood consumption by Indigenous coastal peoples.
Data for the study was sourced from data from various sources, including coral reef surveys, biodiversity assessments and fishery statistics — allowing the team to assess both global and country-level trends in coral-related ecosystem services.
William Cheung, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia and paper author, stated that “our analysis suggests that coral reefs have declined in their ability to provide ecosystem services globally.”
Photo: This map shows the global changes in coral coverage
‘This study speaks to the importance of how we manage coral reefs not only at regional scales, but also at the global scale — and the livelihoods of communities that rely on them.’
According to the team, coral reef fish catches reached their peak almost two decades ago. Since then, they have been declining despite increasing fishing efforts.
In fact, the so-called catch-per-unit-effort — which is commonly used as an indicator of changes in biomass — is now 60 per cent lower than it was in 1950, as also is the diversity of species found living on coral reefs.
An impact on tourism and subsistence fisheries in Indonesia, and other parts of the Caribbean is already a sign that coral reefs have declined and are declining. [the]South Pacific,” the researchers stated in their paper.
Marine protect areas, when present, do not always defend against this, they noted — as such cannot protect against climate change and can also be limited in their enforcement capabilities.
An earlier research team discovered that coral reef loss has caused a similar reduction in ecosystem services and a 60% loss in biodiversity and biomass for fish species.
Even when marine protected areas are present, as they do not provide protection from climate change and may suffer from lack of enforcement and marine protected area staff capacity,” the researchers write.
“Fish and fisheries provide vital micronutrients to coastal areas with limited alternative sources of nutrition,” the team said.
The importance of coral reef biodiversity and fisheries is increased for Indigenous communities and small island developing States, as well as coastal populations, where they could be crucial to traditional cultural practices and traditions.
They concluded that coral reefs’ reduced ability to deliver ecosystem services is a threat to the health of millions of people who have had and continue to have historical relationships with them.
All findings were published in One Earth.
The rise in sea temperatures causes coral to expel small marine algae, which makes them turn white.
Corals form a close relationship to a small marine algae, called Zooxanthellae. This tiny organism lives inside corals and provides food.
Corals release the colorful algae when sea temperatures rise. Loss of alga causes corals to turn yellow and white.
The bleached state can last up to 6 weeks. While corals will recover when the temperature drops or the algae returns, severe bleached corals eventually die.
Satellite images can be difficult to tell the difference between dead and healthy corals in either of these cases.
In some places of the Great Barrier Reef, this bleaching caused coral death by up to 80%.
These bleaching events are occurring four times as often worldwide than ever before.
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia from the air. Two bleaching events have occurred in the Great Barrier Reef corals, one each in 2016 and the other earlier this year. This raises concerns from experts about their ability to survive the global-warming climate.