Ecologists often use underwater microphones to monitor the health of marine environments, such as coral reefs. Underwater ecosystems are filled with thumps, pops, and snaps from shrimp and fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But until now, ecologists have largely been unable to interpret these sounds to a species level because reefs are crowded with hundreds of different species, very few of which have had sounds accurately attributed to them.<\/p>\n\n\n
More Cornell Lab News<\/h2>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/YellowBelliedSapsucker_StevenHunter.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>News Room<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\u201cWhen it comes to identifying sounds, the same biodiversity we aim to protect is also our greatest challenge,\u201d explains Marc Dantzker, lead author of the research and Executive Director of FishEye Collaborative. \u201cThe diversity of fish sounds on a coral reef rivals that of birds in a rainforest. In the Caribbean alone, we estimate that over 700 fish species produce sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, a new tool developed by researchers called an Omnidirectional Underwater Passive Acoustic Camera (UPAC-360) can identify the sources of individual fish sounds. The new tool combines 360\u00b0 camera with underwater microphones, what scientists call hydrophones, to accurately identify fish through sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Underwater](\"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/UPAC-360-Image-of-the-FishEye-UPAC-360-device-deployed-on-the-reef-1280x1120.jpg\")
FishEye UPAC-360 device being deployed on the reef. Photo provided by FishEyeCollaborative.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cSpatial Audio lets you hear the direction from which sounds arrive at the camera,\u201d explained Dantzker. \u201cWhen we visualize that sound and lay the picture on top of the 360\u00b0 image, the result is a video that can reveal which sound came from which fish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team identified 46 fish species from the coral reefs of Cura\u00e7ao in the Caribbean\u2014more than half of these species were never known to make sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research findings represent the most extensive collection of fish sounds ever published. The growing collection is available to everyone at fisheyecollaborative.org\/library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers say that identified sounds from the library can be used to automatically train machine learning systems to detect fish species in underwater recordings. The technology is similar to smartphone apps like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u2019s Merlin Bird ID that automatically identifies bird species by song or call. \u201cWe are a long way from being able to build \u2018Merlin\u2019 for the oceans, but the sounds are useful for scientists and conservationists right away,\u201d says Aaron Rice, a senior author of the study and principal ecologist at the Cornell Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dantzker adds, \u201cBy identifying which species make which sounds, we\u2019re making it possible to decode reef soundscapes, transforming acoustic monitoring into a powerful tool for ocean conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With many coral reefs in decline due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing, the authors note that new technologies are needed to help support conservation decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese reefs are declining rapidly, threatening not just biodiversity, but also the food security and livelihoods of nearly a billion people who depend on them,\u201d said Dantzker. \u201cIn response, governments and NGOs are investing billions in reef protection and restoration. That\u2019s not enough, so we must ensure that we spend these limited funds effectively. We need to track how reefs are responding both to the stressors and the interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy discovering the identity of these hidden voices, acoustics will become a powerful indicator of reef health and resilience and a strategy to monitor wider and deeper,\u201d said Matt Duggan, co-author and PhD candidate at Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another strength of the technology is that it can be placed in reefs and left to collect data without the need for a diver or boat to be present. \u201cThe fact that our recording system is put out in nature and can record for long periods of time means that we\u2019re able to capture species\u2019 behaviors and sounds that have never before been witnessed,\u201d said Rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the results are the most extensive collection of such fish sounds ever published, they still represent a fraction of the total species in the reef. The researchers say that this technique opens the door to decoding the whole reef. They\u2019re expanding the research, growing the library for the Caribbean, and broadening their efforts to other reefs around the world, including Hawai\u2019i and Indonesia, in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
###<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dantzker, M. S. M. T. Duggan, E. Berlik, S. Delikaris-Manias, V. Bountourais, V. Pulkki, and A. N. Rice. (2025). Deciphering Complex Coral Reef Soundscapes with Spatial Audio and 360 \u00b0 Video. Methods in Ecology and Evolution: https:\/\/besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/2041-210X.70149<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nEditors: <\/strong>High-resolution videos and images can be accessed at: http:\/\/bit.ly\/45GjMss<\/a>. Please credit the FishEyeCollaborative and the authors for the videos and images. The use of this material is protected by copyright. Use is permitted only<\/em> within stories about the content of this release. Redistribution or any other use is prohibited without express written permission of the copyright owner.
Media contact:<\/strong>
Kathi Borgmann, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, (607) 254-2137, klb274@cornell.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new 360\u00b0 camera equipped with spatial audio recording is helping researchers listen in and monitor coral reefs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":18766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"wds_primary_category":19,"wds_primary_project":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"project":[],"content-format":[],"class_list":["post-18747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18747"},{"taxonomy":"project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project?post=18747"},{"taxonomy":"content-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-format?post=18747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure><\/div>\u201cWhen it comes to identifying sounds, the same biodiversity we aim to protect is also our greatest challenge,\u201d explains Marc Dantzker, lead author of the research and Executive Director of FishEye Collaborative. \u201cThe diversity of fish sounds on a coral reef rivals that of birds in a rainforest. In the Caribbean alone, we estimate that over 700 fish species produce sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, a new tool developed by researchers called an Omnidirectional Underwater Passive Acoustic Camera (UPAC-360) can identify the sources of individual fish sounds. The new tool combines 360\u00b0 camera with underwater microphones, what scientists call hydrophones, to accurately identify fish through sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSpatial Audio lets you hear the direction from which sounds arrive at the camera,\u201d explained Dantzker. \u201cWhen we visualize that sound and lay the picture on top of the 360\u00b0 image, the result is a video that can reveal which sound came from which fish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team identified 46 fish species from the coral reefs of Cura\u00e7ao in the Caribbean\u2014more than half of these species were never known to make sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research findings represent the most extensive collection of fish sounds ever published. The growing collection is available to everyone at fisheyecollaborative.org\/library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers say that identified sounds from the library can be used to automatically train machine learning systems to detect fish species in underwater recordings. The technology is similar to smartphone apps like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology\u2019s Merlin Bird ID that automatically identifies bird species by song or call. \u201cWe are a long way from being able to build \u2018Merlin\u2019 for the oceans, but the sounds are useful for scientists and conservationists right away,\u201d says Aaron Rice, a senior author of the study and principal ecologist at the Cornell Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dantzker adds, \u201cBy identifying which species make which sounds, we\u2019re making it possible to decode reef soundscapes, transforming acoustic monitoring into a powerful tool for ocean conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With many coral reefs in decline due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing, the authors note that new technologies are needed to help support conservation decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese reefs are declining rapidly, threatening not just biodiversity, but also the food security and livelihoods of nearly a billion people who depend on them,\u201d said Dantzker. \u201cIn response, governments and NGOs are investing billions in reef protection and restoration. That\u2019s not enough, so we must ensure that we spend these limited funds effectively. We need to track how reefs are responding both to the stressors and the interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy discovering the identity of these hidden voices, acoustics will become a powerful indicator of reef health and resilience and a strategy to monitor wider and deeper,\u201d said Matt Duggan, co-author and PhD candidate at Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another strength of the technology is that it can be placed in reefs and left to collect data without the need for a diver or boat to be present. \u201cThe fact that our recording system is put out in nature and can record for long periods of time means that we\u2019re able to capture species\u2019 behaviors and sounds that have never before been witnessed,\u201d said Rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the results are the most extensive collection of such fish sounds ever published, they still represent a fraction of the total species in the reef. The researchers say that this technique opens the door to decoding the whole reef. They\u2019re expanding the research, growing the library for the Caribbean, and broadening their efforts to other reefs around the world, including Hawai\u2019i and Indonesia, in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ###<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dantzker, M. S. M. T. Duggan, E. Berlik, S. Delikaris-Manias, V. Bountourais, V. Pulkki, and A. N. Rice. (2025). Deciphering Complex Coral Reef Soundscapes with Spatial Audio and 360 \u00b0 Video. Methods in Ecology and Evolution: https:\/\/besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/2041-210X.70149<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Editors: <\/strong>High-resolution videos and images can be accessed at: http:\/\/bit.ly\/45GjMss<\/a>. Please credit the FishEyeCollaborative and the authors for the videos and images. The use of this material is protected by copyright. Use is permitted only<\/em> within stories about the content of this release. Redistribution or any other use is prohibited without express written permission of the copyright owner. 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Media contact:<\/strong>
Kathi Borgmann, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, (607) 254-2137, klb274@cornell.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"