Sound machines could help monitor health of coral reefs

From an article on Tree Hugger:

Putting EARs in the water among the bustling life of coral reefs could help us monitor the health of coral reefs around the worlds. EAR is an Ecological Acoustic Recorder, a device developed by NOAA and the University of Hawaii, listens in on the sounds of coral reefs and helps determine the overall health and changing status of reefs. It looks to be a promising technology, and the first one to be deployed in the Coral Triangle has just been installed.

Alison Green, senior marine scientist for The Nature Conservancy, writes, "Preliminary evidence suggests that these EARs may provide an exciting new technology for monitoring coral reefs around the clock and throughout the year. Do healthy reefs sound different than stressed reefs? If so, we may be able to use these devices to monitor coral reefs using sound to augment less frequent underwater visual censuses by divers."