Great Barrier Reef Soundscapes

These recordings were made between April and July 2013 at Wheeler Reef, on the Great Barrier Reef. They were collected as part of a collaborative project involving JASCO Applied Sciences and the Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA) at James Cook University.

The primary aims were to characterise the soundscape of a reef close to a large population centre and in a green zone; provide data which could be (and was) used to assist in verifying acoustic modelling of vessel traffic in the Great Barrier Reef off Townsville and provide data which could be used by CSTFA in acoustic performance validation of the acoustic tags used in their acoustic monitoring studies, and the possible detection ranges for tagged animals.

Data from this project provided an understanding of the ‘ecoacoustics’ of Wheeler Reef, including the characterisation of the contribution of natural, biological and anthropogenic underwater sounds at the location. Some of the highlights including the presence of humpback and minke whales during their migration, spawning aggregations of fish, and the contribution level from shipping.