WHOI biologists Nadege Aoki (L) and Aran Mooney install an underwater speaker system to broadcast healthy reef sounds, off the coast of the U.S Virgin Islands.

A reef that has been degraded – whether by coral bleaching, disease, or direct human impacts – can’t support the same diversity of species and has a much quieter, less rich soundscape. A new paper from researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows that sound could potentially be a vital tool in the effort to restore coral reefs.