By tracking the health and functioning of coral reefs using AI and passive acoustics, French company Reef Pulse is on the cutting edge of marine protections.
The world’s coral reefs are home to 30% of marine biodiversity. They also provide vital goods and services to about 850 million people through coastline protection and tourism, as well as being a major source for food.
But human impacts are destroying these fragile ecosystems at an alarming rate, with experts saying the planet could lose 70% to 90% of all coral reefs by 2050.
Steps are being taken to protect the reefs, but, as their health is deteriorating rapidly, there are fears that they are not extensive enough to help solve the crisis facing reefs in a timely manner.
Enter Reef Pulse, the French company that is offering “continuous monitoring services for the state and functioning of coral reefs with an innovative approach”.
INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES
Reef Pulse takes ambient sound recordings collected from coral reefs and translates them into instantly usable data via state-of-the-art technologies such as passive acoustics, signal processing and artificial intelligence (AI). The company can then use this information to establish conservation methods tailor-made for each situation.
More specifically, the company records the sounds in the reefs over a continuous period to allow its analysts to determine the state of the reef. Compared against a range of data points and indicators, this information is translated into visuals to help those working to save the reefs do their jobs as effectively as possible.
The data is analysed daily to allow a thoroughly understanding of the effects of the Earth’s cycles – lunar and seasonal – and identify peak periods of activity. This combination of acoustic analysis and data visualisation provides detailed insight into ecosystem life and health.
REEF PULSE AND FRANCE 2030
Launched by French President Emmanuel Macron in October 2021, France 2030 is a programme that supports start-ups, companies and organisations with projects that have real potential to make a difference. To date, more than €8.4 billion has been dedicated to toward 60 projects and 1,700 recipients.
Reef Pulse is one such beneficiary of France 2030 funding, which has been instrumental in helping refine the company’s tools to make them readily available to marine parks, design offices, research laboratories and local communities.
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Photo via Reef Pulse