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Science On The Cutting Edge

Boom! Detecting Gregarious Goliath Groupers

Using Their Sounds

By Gisele Galoustian an artificial reef in the Gulf activity patterns over a range of space and time, ambient noise
From growls to pulses of Mexico, where the fine and various environmental conditions,” said Hanqi Zhuang,
to booms, whales, fish and scale distribution of fish Ph.D., co-author, chair and professor in FAU’s Department of
crustaceans all produce sounds. around their habitat was Electrical Engineering and Computer Science within the College
In fact, more than 800 species of fish are capable of making noises studied. They assessed their of Engineering and Computer Science. “The localization method
for a variety of functions such as courtship and mating, defending presence by measuring we used also is applicable to similar sound pulses emitted by
their turf or responding to threats. Each of these species has a acoustic activity and The Goliath grouper, one of the whales, dolphins, lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans.”
characteristic waveform that is unique to their “calls.” As such, how fish were distributed largest grouper species reaching Researchers used the automated call localization approach
detecting structures in these signals can be used to identify the relative to their habitat. up to 800 pounds, produce to map the distribution of Goliath grouper calls at the artificial
sounds of different species. Researchers deployed a low frequency loud “booms” reef where the array was deployed at two specific times of the
Classifying sounds produced by fish will help to understand battery-powered six- using their swim bladder and day. Study findings revealed that sounds were most frequently
how they respond to environmental changes and anthropogenic element acoustic array at surrounding muscles. Photo by produced between 1 and 3 a.m. Midday distribution showed a
disturbances, such as ocean noise and fishing activity, as well the artificial reef, which Clark Morgan cluster of fish located near the center and to the north and east of
as environmental changes associated with warming waters due continuously recorded for the artificial reef. During the night, the cluster of fish calls were
to climate change or red tides that now frequently occur on the three days. The six-element acoustic array was set with three more centered near the reef and to the southwest of it.
west coast of Florida. hydrophones on the reef structure and three hydrophones on the “Goliath grouper calls can be uniquely identified by matched
Passive acoustics is a measuring method used to detect ocean floor. filtering, which uses a generic template of the pulse to be
sounds or vibrations created by marine mammals in the wild. Using time difference of arrival (TDOA), a sound source identified. This model, through its specific design, also mitigates
Although this technology has helped to shed light on fish habitat localization model based on staggered matched filtering was the multipath effect in identifying and timing their calls,” said
preference as well as their movements, no studies have yet been designed. It uses a two-stage approach, first, to identify the sound Laurent Chérubin, Ph.D., co-author and a research professor at
able to illustrate their detailed behavior. and, second, to localize it. In the first stage, researchers employed FAU Harbor Branch. “This noninvasive, automated approach
Selecting the gregarious Goliath grouper (Epinephelus a noise adaptive matched filter designed to detect and determine efficiently processes large acoustic datasets to continuously
itajara) for their study, researchers from Florida Atlantic the timing of the sound pulses recorded by the hydrophones. In map the evolution of the sound source spatial distribution with
University (FAU) implemented and deployed a novel automated the second stage, the detected sound pulses were fed to a TDOA relatively high precision.”
detector and localization model to find underwater marine localization algorithm to compute the locations of the sound Study co-authors are Ali Salem Altaher, first author and a
organisms using their low-frequency pulse sounds. Pulses source. Ph.D. student; Ali K. Ibrahim, Ph.D., a research engineer; Ali
associated with fish sounds can be categorized in terms of the Results of the study, published in the Journal of the Muhamed Ali, Ph.D., a research fellow; and Ahmed Altaher,
number of pulses, pulse period, frequency, oscillogram shape, Acoustical Society of America, showed this model can be used a Ph.D. student, all within FAU’s Department of Electrical
or a descriptive name or onomatopoeic word like a growl, pulse to automatically process large amounts of acoustic data and Engineering and Computer Science; James Locasio, Ph.D.,
train or boom. provides detailed movements of marine organisms that produce program manager, Fisheries Habitat Ecology and Acoustics,
The Goliath grouper is one of the largest grouper species low-frequency sound pulses. The model can be applied to track Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium; Michael McCallister,
reaching up to 800 pounds. They produce low frequency (peak of a group of marine organisms and their related activities, such as research coordinator; and Matt Ajemian, Ph.D., an associate
60 hertz) loud “booms” using their swim bladder and surrounding feeding for marine mammals or invertebrates, or in response to research professor and director of the Fisheries Ecology and
muscles. These booms display a “polycyclic” waveform, which predators or mating partners, or any other disturbances within Conservation Lab, both within FAU Harbor Branch.
rapidly increases in amplitude for up to one or two wave cycles their habitat. This research was supported with funding from the Defense
and then declines exponentially. “Localizing Goliath grouper calls around their habitat can Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Harbor
For the study, researchers recorded Goliath grouper sounds at provide us with the opportunity to learn about their fine-scale Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation.

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