Our Projects
We are working in marine systems around the world, with local community partners, to carry out exciting collaborative projects. Read more about scopes of work below and in more detail within individual project pages. Follow @soundoceanscience on Instagram and Twitter for the latest news and updates.
A Coral Spawning Calendar
for Zanzibar
Unguja Island, Zanzibar
We are leading an effort to comprehensively document coral spawning for a range of coral species for the first-time in Zanzibar (and coastal Tanzania). This multi-year project will include collection of regional knowledge, drone surveys, camera traps, and spawning monitoring dives. Starting late 2024, we will log many hours underwater to catch corals in the act and provide fundamental biological information critical to the conservation and restoration of coral reefs!
Establishing coral reproductive patterns in East Africa
Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique
Sounds of a Changing Sea:
Exploring the unheard acoustic diversity of Mozambique's vulnerable coastal habitats
We are characterizing spatiotemporal variation in soundscapes across coastal marine ecosystems in Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique (e.g., coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangroves, sand banks, and open ocean), to explore acoustic patterns and to test relationships between the acoustic characteristics and biophysical parameters (e.g., temperature, tides, biodiversity).
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, Caribbean
Coral Incubator:
Improving outcomes of coral reef restoration through in situ larval rearing, settlement, and juvenile grow-out
Our project in St. Croix seeks to create and test a simple in-water system to incubate baby coral, beginning at the larval stage through to a juvenile size that can produce higher survival results when planted onto reefs. This effort is in collaboration with a local eco-resort with a key parallel objective to the research and development of training and building capacity in the community for coral restoration.
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Global, Multiple Locations
Secrets of the Snapping Shrimp
Uncovering the acoustic patterns of the understudied yet noisiest animals in the sea
Snapping shrimp, also known as pistol or cracker shrimp, are the dominant sound producers in many coastal habitats around the globe, however, we know very little about the life and times of this hyperdiverse taxon of shrimp (>600 described species). We are on a mission to make their sounds heard and (better) understood. Our snapping shrimp-related work includes documenting the diverse and unexplained patterns in their sound production, investigating their acoustic and basic ecology, and sharing the story of the incredible snapping shrimp with the public (aka "shrimpfluencing").
Worldwide
Projects in Development
Our team is busy developing new proposals and collaborations around the world. Current pilot projects and proposals include:
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"Interviews with Fish" - documenting acoustic behaviour of fish and invertebrates using closed circuit rebreather diving, free diving, and autonomous audio-video arrays
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Integrating ecoacoustics and eDNA to monitor reefs in East Africa
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Soundscapes of kelp forests in South Africa
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Growing our global soundscape library and examining snapping shrimp acoustic patterns around the world
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