Coral Larvae Use Sound to Find a Home on the Reef
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Published: 12 December 2018
A WHOI study finds coral larvae may use reef sounds to choose where to settle. Healthy reefs with diverse fish sounds attracted twice as many larvae, suggesting soundscapes could aid reef restoration and guide conservation strategies.
Keywords: Ashlee Lillis, Aran Mooney, reef conservation, hydrophones, ocean noise pollution
Groups of Pilot Whales Have Their Own Dialects
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Published: 18 December 2018
WHOI researchers found that Hawaiian short-finned pilot whales use distinct vocal dialects tied to their social groups, offering insight into whale communication, social structure, and the need to conserve them at the family-group level.
Keywords: Cascadia Research Collective, whale conservation, behavioral ecology, underwater acoustics, sonar sensitivity
The long memory of the Pacific OceanThe long memory of the Pacific Ocean
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Published: 4 January 2019
WHOI and Harvard researchers found that the deep Pacific Ocean is still cooling from the Little Ice Age due to centuries-long lag times, suggesting Earth’s ocean heat uptake over the 20th century may be overestimated by about 30%.
Keywords: ocean memory, historical ocean data, global warming, heat uptake, ocean circulation, deep-sea thermometers
