As the effects of climate change become increasingly evident on our planet, saving our coral reefs has never been more crucial.
Google and Marine Biologists Collaborate to Launch Innovative Citizen-Science Platform to Save Coral Reefs
Thankfully, experts at Google have partnered with marine biologists from around the world to launch an innovative citizen-science, AI-powered platform that will allow us to help save these imperative ecosystems from the comfort of our homes.
According to the story by Axios, over the past few years, Google and its marine biologists have deployed water-optimized microphones to 10 diverse coral reefs across the globe.
Gamifying Sound Recordings From Coral Reefs: Allowing Web Visitors To Help Scientists Determine Reef Quality
While these recorders have captured the sounds of marine life within these different reefs, this data has now been compiled into a platform that gamifies sound recordings from these ecosystems for web visitors to analyze.
When web visitors crunch the data from these sound recordings, they are inadvertently helping scientists determine which coral reefs are of higher quality.
Sounds of a Healthy Reef Attract Juvenile Species to the Area
Mary Oluremi Shodipo, a Direct National Geographic Explorer and marine ecologist in the Philippines, explains, "When you have juvenile fish and juvenile coral larvae, they use sound to find where they're going to settle."
So, a higher quality reef will be louder and more diverse in sound, attracting more juvenile species to the area. A 2019 paper in the journal Nature Communication even found that when the sounds of a healthy reef were played to restructured coral rubble in the Great Barrier Reef, the amount of fish settled in the area doubled.
A Chance to Protect Our Reefs: Listening to the Sounds of the Reefs
According to Steve Simpson, a marine biologist and fish ecologist leading the initiative, listening to the sounds of a reef gives us a chance to detect biodiversity. Experts hope that with the public's help, they can continue pulling audio data from recordings, and training an AI model to help monitor and protect coral reefs more efficiently.
There's no denying that the planet and its inhabitants are feeling the effects of climate change, and by participating in this project, they can all become active participants in the mission to save their reefs and protect the planet from further destruction.
Scientific research indicates that playing back sound recordings of healthy reefs through underwater speakers can help degraded coral ecosystems to regenerate.
The Calling In Our Corals Project - Leveraging AI Technology To Preserve Coral Reefs
During an experiment conducted in the Great Barrier Reef-which had suffered from cyclones and coral bleaching-the amount of fish settled there doubled when sounds of a vibrant marine ecosystem were broadcast.
In its next phase, the Calling In Our Corals project plans to leverage AI technology to refine its data collection further. With the help of AI models, ecologists can focus more on protecting coral reefs rather than analyzing data.
As coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, it's essential that we take steps to conserve them. Calling In Our Corals provides individuals worldwide a chance to make a real difference by actively preserving one of Earth's most precious resources.
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