An AI has been developed that can track the health of coral reefs by learning the “song of the reef”, University of Exeter researchers have said. Coral reefs have a complex soundscape that requires painstaking analysis to get enough data to measure their health based on sound recordings.

Figure 1. AI learns coral reef 'song'

Figure 1 shows in the new study, a computer algorithm was trained using multiple recordings of healthy and degraded reefs, allowing the machine to learn the difference. It then analysed a host of new recordings, and successfully identified reef health 92 per cent of the time. [1]

"One major difficulty is that visual and acoustic surveys of reefs usually rely on labour-intensive methods.

"Visual surveys are also limited by the fact that many reef creatures conceal themselves, or are active at night, while the complexity of reef sounds has made it difficult to identify reef health using individual recordings. [2]

Our approach to that problem was to use machine learning – to see whether a computer could learn the song of the reef.

"Our findings show that a computer can pick up patterns that are undetectable to the human ear. It can tell us faster, and more accurately, how the reef is doing."

The fish and other creatures living on coral reefs make a vast range of sounds. The meaning of many of these calls remains unknown, but the new AI method can distinguish between the overall sounds of healthy and unhealthy reefs.

The recordings used in the study were taken at the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Project, which is restoring heavily damaged reefs in Indonesia. [3]

Co-author Dr Tim Lamont, from Lancaster University, said the AI method creates major opportunities to improve coral reef monitoring.

“This is a really exciting development. Sound recorders and AI could be used around the world to monitor the health of reefs, and discover whether attempts to protect and restore them are working,” Dr Lamont said.

“In many cases it’s easier and cheaper to deploy an underwater hydrophone on a reef and leave it there than to have expert divers visiting the reef repeatedly to survey it — especially in remote locations.”

The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Swiss National Science Foundation. [4]

References:

1. https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/05/ai-determines-coral-reef-health-by-listening-to-its-song/
2. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220527085230.htm
3. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/may/ai-learns-coral-reef-song
4. https://vervetimes.com/ai-learns-coral-reef-song-sciencedaily/

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), AI learns coral reef 'song', Anatechmaz, pp.108