An Acidic Ocean Will Also Be a Silent One

Environment





Photo credit:

These giant claws make some of the loudest sounds in the ocean, but fall silent as carbon dioxide concentrations rise. Tullio Rossi

Snapping shrimp, the creatures that make coral reefs noisy places, go quiet when living in water just a little less alkaline than the current ocean. Since many other species rely on the sounds shrimps make to find their way home, this is a disturbing and unanticipated discovery in a world where carbon dioxide is affecting the chemistry of the oceans.

Many coral reef fish disperse widely as larvae. Once transformed into juveniles they find their way to a reef through a combination of smell and sound, particularly the sound of snapping shrimp.