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Scientists are experimenting with underwater speakers that broadcast recordings of healthy reef sounds to attract fish and marine larvae back to degraded coral reefs. The approach, drawing on acoustic ecology research, aims to help speed natural recovery processes in damaged reef ecosystems.
Researchers have identified seafloor reef formations near Mozambique's Bazaruto Archipelago that originated as a forest thousands of years ago. Unlike typical coral reefs, these structures are composed of remnants of ancient trees rather than coral skeletons, now transformed by time and submersion into a distinct seafloor habitat.
Researchers report finding a technique that enables severely damaged coral reefs to recover quickly and more completely than previously observed. The approach reportedly targets key recovery factors that had been limiting reef regeneration after bleaching events.
Stanford researchers found that bleached coral placed in contact with healthy coral colonies recovered within about eight weeks. The study suggests physical proximity to healthy tissue can accelerate recovery compared to bleached coral left isolated.
A study published in Science Advances by researchers led by Nick Graham of Lancaster University examined 28 atoll islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans, finding that intact ecosystems of seabirds, native vegetation and reef organisms help the islands grow and adapt to rising seas. Seabird guano fertilizes plants and coral, parrotfish convert dead coral into sand, and plant roots stabilize sediment, together reinforcing island growth. The researchers say eradicating invasive rats and replacing coconut plantations with native forest could give islands a better chance of keeping pace with sea-level rise expected by century's end under roughly 2°C of warming.
A reassessment of 892 reef-building coral species against IUCN Red List criteria found that of the 774 with sufficient data, 340 species (44%) now qualify as threatened, including 33 Critically Endangered, 251 Endangered and 56 Vulnerable. The analysis, an update of a 2008 assessment, used proxies such as global coral cover trends and projected severe bleaching frequency under a moderate-emissions climate scenario, since population data for most coral species are lacking.
Researchers deployed umbrella-like shading devices over coral reefs in the Florida Keys to test whether reducing sunlight exposure can help corals survive periods of extreme ocean heat. The experiment is aimed at limiting coral bleaching, a stress response triggered when warming waters cause corals to expel the algae they depend on for nutrients and color.
Scientists are racing to protect coral reefs ahead of a forecast global mass bleaching event driven by record ocean temperatures and a strengthening El Niño. Restoration teams are testing methods including breeding corals bred for greater heat and acid tolerance, applying microbial and nutrient treatments, and using underwater speakers to attract coral larvae to degraded reefs.
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, led by marine bioacoustician Aran Mooney, are playing underwater recordings of healthy reef sounds—like snapping shrimp and fish noise—near degraded Caribbean reefs during coral spawning season. The approach exploits a discovery that coral larvae can sense and follow sound cues when searching for a place to settle. Teams are also relocating corals to cooler, deeper waters and adding protective microorganisms as record ocean heat and a strong El Niño drive fresh coral bleaching concerns.
A team studying beaches on Japan's Ryukyu Islands identified colorful fragments embedded in coral gravel that turned out to be plastic melted into the coral's microscopic pores. Using spectroscopy and micro-CT scans, they confirmed the plastic and coral skeleton had fused so thoroughly they could not be separated, and they named the material 'plasticoral.' The team believes beach bonfires burning discarded plastic waste near coral rubble likely caused the fusion.
Palaeoclimatologist Julia Cole and colleagues reconstructed a millennium of sea surface temperatures using Galápagos coral skeletons, published in Science. They found that strong El Niño events have occurred more often over the past century, since industrial-era greenhouse gas emissions began, than in the thousand years before it.
Researchers from the Zoological Society of London used underwater microphones and AI software to track blast fishing near Indonesia's Spermonde Archipelago, detecting over 3,500 explosions in 3,600 hours of recordings. They estimate more than 8,000 underwater detonations occur annually in the region, as fishers use homemade explosives to stun and kill fish for local markets.