Listen to the fish sing: scientists record ‘mind-blowing’ noises of
restored coral reef
Level: Intermediate
1
Warmer
a. Look at the photo and discuss in pairs.
• What sounds can you hear in this place?
• Have you ever been diving in a coral reef?
b. Scan the article to find words to describe the sounds.
2
Key words
a. Find words in the article that match the definitions below. The paragraph numbers are given to
help you.
1. strange and unusual (paragraph 1)
2. substances that explode and cause a lot of noise and damage
(paragraph 3)
3. repaired something so that it looks like it used to before being damaged
(paragraph 3)
4. difficult to see because it looks similar to what is around it
(paragraph 4)
5. someone’s child or children (paragraph 5)
6. making you feel very unhappy (paragraph 6)
7. when you get very interested in something or excited by it
(paragraph 8)
8. (of an animal or plant) no longer existing (paragraph 11)
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Listen to the fish sing: scientists record ‘mind-blowing’ noises of
restored coral reef
Level: Intermediate
9. the variety of different types of plant and animal life in a particular region
(paragraph 11)
10. the work people do that provides money for them to live on
(para 13)
11. broken pieces of stone and brick from buildings, walls (coral), etc.
(paragraph 12)
12. difficult or dangerous to be in (paragraph 15)
b. Use some of the key words above to complete these sentences.
1. The Tasmanian tiger has been since 1936.
2. After the oil spill, thousands of fishermen were worried about their .
3. The island has amazing , which must be protected.
4. Polar bears live in the one of the most environments on the planet.
5. At first, we were very about the idea, but after a difficult
week, we changed our minds.
6. Police dogs discovered in the cellar of the house.
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Listen to the fish sing: scientists record ‘mind-blowing’ noises of
restored coral reef
Level: Intermediate
Damian Carrington 9 “I was swimming around playing it loudly,
8 December, 2021 trying to ‘talk’ to the fish. I thought I got a reply
a few times, but I never saw the fish. So the
1 From whoops to purrs, snaps to grunts, and mystery continues.”
foghorns to laughs, a mix of bizarre fish songs 10 Professor Steve Simpson, at the University
have shown that a coral reef in Indonesia has of Bristol, UK, who is part of the team, said:
returned quickly to health. “Some of the sounds we recorded are really
2 Many of the noises had never been recorded bizarre. We still have a lot to learn about what
before and no one knows which fish are making they all mean and the animals that are making
these sounds. them. But for now, it’s amazing to be able to
hear the ecosystem come back to life.”
3 The reef had been badly damaged by blast
fishing, which uses explosives. The corals are 11 The world’s scientists have warned that
now being restored, but the scientists wanted global heating of 2C could cause warm-water
to know if the creatures that live in the reefs corals to become extinct. As well as being a
catastrophic loss of biodiversity, this would
were also returning.
destroy the livelihoods of the hundreds of
4 Visual surveys miss camouflaged animals millions of people who rely on reefs for food,
and those that come out only at night, so the income and storm protection.
researchers listened to the sounds of the reef.
12 To restore the reefs, small pieces of live coral
The sounds were similar to those of reefs that
are attached to star-shaped metal frames,
had never been damaged. which were placed in the rubble left by the
5 Sound is vital for reef survival because almost blast fishing.
everything that lives there, from corals to 13 While the creatures making the noises were
crustaceans to fish, produce offspring that not identified, some of the sounds are known to
spend the early part of their lives in the open scientists. Whooping sounds have been linked
oceans, before returning to the reef using the to the Ambon damselfish, growls and grunts
sounds to guide them. with soldierfish, and knocking sounds with
6 Tim Lamont, at the University of Exeter, UK, triggerfish. But the laugh sound was new to
the main author of the study, said: “Working science. Noises can come from fishes’
on underwater sound on coral reefs has drum-like swim bladder, their throats or from
often been quite miserable. We’ve been teeth being banged together.
listening to reefs going into silence as their 14 “We were surprised to see the reef recover
condition gets worse. But this was exciting and in such a small amount of time,” Lamont said
inspiring because the change was going in the but added that a complete recovery would
other direction.” take longer, to allow rarer slow-growing corals
7 “Furthermore, as we listened to the hours to return.
and hours of recordings, we kept discovering 15 “If we don’t address the wider problems to
sounds we had never heard. Some were a bit the world’s reefs [such as the climate crisis
familiar but some were just like, ‘I have no idea and water pollution], conditions for reefs will
what that is.’ It was a real sense of adventure get more and more hostile, and eventually
and discovery,” he said. restoration will become impossible.”
8 “The foghorn one really blew our minds. © Guardian News and Media 2021
I got really enthusiastic and tried to work out First published in The Guardian, 08/12/2021
exactly what fish was making it. I downloaded
the noise on to an MP3 player, and got an
underwater speaker.
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Listen to the fish sing: scientists record ‘mind-blowing’ noises of
restored coral reef
Level: Intermediate
3
Understanding the article
a. Are these statements true or false according to the article? Correct any that are false.
1. Coral reefs provide protection from bad weather and a way for people to make money.
2. The coral reef in Indonesia was damaged by a particular way of fishing.
3. It is possible to restore coral reefs, at least partly, by growing new coral.
4. The reef has taken longer to recover than scientists hoped.
5. Scientists were unable to see all the creatures that have returned to the reef.
6. Scientists have no idea what creatures are making any of the sounds.
7. Lamont hoped the mysterious creature would come out when it heard the recording of the
strange noises.
8. He saw the mysterious creature only once.
4
Key language
a. Without looking at the article, join the words to make word pairs from the article. Then check
your answers by looking back at the article.
1. coral animals
2. blast loss
3. camouflaged problems
4. underwater fishing
5. catastrophic reef
6. wider speaker
b. Now use the word pairs to explain the article. Or, work with a partner and record yourselves
talking about the article: one of you is an interviewer, the other is a scientist.
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Listen to the fish sing: scientists record ‘mind-blowing’ noises of
restored coral reef
Level: Intermediate
5
Discussion
a. Discuss with a partner or in groups
• Have you ever been diving or snorkelling?
○ If so, describe the experience and talk about what you saw.
○ If not, would you like to go diving or snorkelling one day? Why? Why not?
• You are on a committee that has 50 million US dollars to give to scientific research. You
can give the money to find out more about either space or the seabed. Where would you
invest the money and why?
6
In your own words
a. Create an Under the Sea Quiz. Work with a partner and write a six-to-eight-question multiple
choice quiz about our seas and oceans and the creatures that live there. These key words
might give you ideas for your questions:
size, depth, temperature, creatures, rocks, volcanoes, earthquakes, shipwrecks, treasure, plants, coral, caves,
diving, submarines, exploration, colours
e.g., Which of these oceans is the coldest?
a. the Atlantic
b. the Arctic
c. the Pacific
(The answer is b.)
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