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What’s That Sound?

While a coral reef may appear quiet and serene, it’s actually a noisy place. Sounds from different sources—biological, physical, geological, and human—influence life on the reef in a variety of ways that aren’t well understood. WHOI researchers are hoping to change that by employing some robotic help. Biologist Aran Mooney and engineer Yogesh Girdhar used a BlueROV2 to record reef sounds in the U.S. Virgin Islands during preliminary field work earlier this year. By combining visual identification and audio classification systems, they plan to “teach” the robot to quickly classify and compare soundscapes. (Photo by Amy Apprill, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)