Snap, Crackle, Pop!
Ever wonder what an ocean reef sounds like? If you answered, “like a giant bowl of Rice Krispies,” you get a gold star!
According to NC State Ph.D. candidate Ashlee Lillis, the noisy snaps, crackles and pops of the reef make it the undersea equivalent of a busy city, full of its inhabitants’ distinct sounds.
Lillis and her advisers, marine scientist Dave Eggleston and geophysicist Del Bohnenstiehl, recently set out to discover whether the unique sounds of the reef played a role in helping larval oysters find their home. They made recordings of reef and off-reef environments, and exposed the larvae to them.
Their results? Larval oysters tended to “settle,” or drop down out of a water column to the seafloor, more frequently when they were exposed to reef sounds. The quieter sounds from the more bucolic seafloor environment did not have the same effect.
Listen for yourselves – and we accept no responsibility if you have a sudden craving for cereal.
Reef sample:
Off-reef sample:
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