Did you know that underwater sound has tremendous potential for assessing and monitoring the ocean?

MARE researcher Clara Amorim attended the Global Ocean Science Education (GOSE) Workshop in the United States, invited to give a lecture. The objectives of this workshop align with MARE's goals: to foster international collaboration and partnerships and advance ocean literacy.

Clara Amorim was the only Portuguese researcher at this event that brought together 69 researchers. Her presentation focused on acoustic communication in fish. "I discussed the mechanisms of hearing, sound production, and the context and relevance of sounds produced by fish," said the researcher.

"The acoustic channel is the primary sensory modality available in the aquatic environment, which explains the enormous diversity of sound production and hearing mechanisms in teleost fish. Like in other vertebrates, many species acoustically communicate during social interactions, such as mating. Their auditory system (inner ear) is good at detecting information from the 'acoustic environment' at low frequencies," she explains.

The researcher leaves us a message: "Underwater sound has tremendous potential for assessing and monitoring the ocean (since mapping the seafloor to assessing species presence and biodiversity) on a global temporal and geographical scale, making it extremely relevant to achieving the goals of the UN Ocean Decade. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate acoustics at all levels of education and train a larger number of specialized technicians. It requires great intersectoral collaboration among industry, education, academia, and regulators to improve ocean literacy and develop a workforce in this area."