August 2023 🌑 New Moon 8/16
June 2024 🌑 New Moon 6/6
July 2024 🌑 New Moon 7/5
Treatment
Control
𓇼Learn more about the science behind the artificial reef structures used in these field experiments here𓇼
Interactive In-situ Fish Larvae Observations from Acoustic Enrichment Field Experiments
Autonomous cameras reveal larval reef fish responses to acoustic enrichment and lunar phase, Supplemental Materials, Scientific Reports (2026)
Research Overview
Acoustic enrichment (AE)—the playback of ambient sound from healthy coral reefs—shows promise in attracting fish larvae to degraded or artificial reefs, but previous evaluations have used invasive diver-based sampling techniques, limiting most studies to short deployments in benign and accessible environments. This study used fully autonomous cameras to non-invasively evaluate AE efficacy in attracting settlement-stage fish larvae and mature fish over large fractions of a lunar cycle. We deployed an autonomous AE system in Kāne'ohe Bay (O‘ahu, Hawai‘i) over three spawning events (August 2023, June–July 2024). Treatment (active speaker) and control (inactive speaker) sites were built by placing artificial structures, autonomous cameras, and autonomous hydrophones on a sandy seabed at 5 m water depth, with sites separated by 42-65 m. Treatment and control designations were alternated between deployments to remove potential spatial bias. Manual and semi-automated image analysis found larval counts at both sites peaking around the new moon, but the treatment site attracted 4-14 times more larvae. Both sites encountered similar numbers of mature fish. These results demonstrate that autonomous camera systems can non-invasively study fish larval presence and provide further support that AE can enhance larval fish response.
Acoustic Enrichment Protocol
Listen below to the snapping shrimp, purring damselfish and other reef sounds collected from a local vibrant reef.
Open Source Cameras for Autonomous, Remote, Multi-Week Monitoring
