Posted By
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
Juvenile fishes have one of the highest mortality rates compared to other life stages. Within two days of settling into a reef almost 60 percent are consumed by predators (1). Our recent study found noisy boats and ships can also affect the prey response of these young fishes.
When exposed to the noise of vessels, juvenile fishes decreased their activity, which reduced their swimming distance. Previous research found more active fishes learn faster about their environment and potential predators, which results in a higher chance of survival (2).
We also found juveniles exposed to boat and ship noise were slower to escape when exposed to a simulated predator attack. This is highly relevant as the timing of the escape response to a predator is critical for success—a slower fish is more likely to get eaten (2).
Noise pollution is mostly concentrated in coastal areas. The higher the human population the higher the incidence of recreational boating activities such as diving and recreational fishing. More than 250,000 boats are registered in the Great Barrier Reef region and this number is projected to increase 500 percent by 2040 (3). This means vessel noise is not only already widespread, but increasing along the Great Barrier Reef.
Our results suggest boat and ship noise could increase the mortality of juvenile fishes during their critical period of growth (and remember, ~60 percent already die within two days). In areas such as the Great Barrier Reef, fishes are likely exposed to recreational boats and ships multiple times throughout their life. An increase in the mortality rate could have implications for population structure and community dynamics.
Man-made noise is easier to manage compared to other pollutants, which provides an opportunity to mitigate its effects on coral reef communities. The main goal of our research is to investigate the effects of noise on reef fishes in order to provide governmental institutions with information for its management and regulation. Future research will investigate the long-term effects of noise pollution on fishes and whether there are interactive effects with other stressors.
(1) Almany GR, Webster MS. 2006. ‘The predation gauntlet: early post-settlement mortality in reef fishes’. Coral Reefs 25: 19-22
(2) McCormick MI, Fakan E, Allan BJ. 2018. ‘Behavioural measures determine survivorship within the hierarchy of whole-organism phenotypic traits’. Functional Ecology: 1-12
(3) Department of Transport and Main Roads. Queensland Government. 2020.
PAPER
Velasquez Jimenez L, Fakan E, McCormick M. (2020). ‘Vessel noise affects routine swimming and escape response of a coral reef fish’. PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235742
An international group of scientists is predicting markedly different outcomes for different species of coral reef fishes under climate change – and have made substantial progress on picking the ‘
New research has found as climate change causes the world’s oceans to warm, baby sharks are born smaller, exhausted, undernourished and into environments that are already difficult for them to survi
A new study shows the coastal protection coral reefs currently provide will start eroding by the end of the century, as the world continues to warm and the oceans acidify. A team of researchers led
A team of scientists led by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) won one of the nation’s top science awards at tonight’s ‘Oscars of Australian science’, the Eureka P
Abstract: It is a little over a decade since research commenced into the effects of anthropogenic ocean acidification on marine fishes. In that time, we have learned that projected end-of-century
Abstract: Increased uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has caused the world’s ocean to become more acidic. Different marine habitats are known to have varying ranges of CO2 across mul
Abstract: The Allen Coral Atlas (http://allencoralatlas.org) partnership uses high-resolution satellite imagery, machine learning, and field data to map and monitor the world’s coral reefs at unp
Abstract: Climate change is causing the average surface temperature of the oceans to rise and increasing the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves. In addition, absorption of additional CO2
Abstract: Marine environments are a concealing medium, where observations of natural fish behavior are challenging. In particular, the geographic and depth distributions of migratory top predators ar
Abstract: Invasive species management can be the the subject of debate in many countries due to conflicting ecological, ethical, economic, and social reasons, especially when dealing with a species s
Abstract: Ocean acidification, the increase in seawater CO2 with all its associated consequences, is relatively well understood in open oceans. In shelf seas such as the Great Barrier Reef, processe
Abstract: The backdrop of legends and movies, the deep sea has always been unfathomable because we had no idea what existed there. Once thought to be barren of life, we now know this couldn’t be
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au