This month, two autonomous ocean gliders are travelling the waters along the southeast U.S. coast and U.S. Caribbean to detect concentrations of reef fish activity around marine protected areas. The gliders collect sounds produced by several types of reef fish while they are aggregating and reproducing. Once these gliders are retrieved at the end of the month, NOAA scientists and partners will analyze the sound recordings and combine them with water temperature and current information to better understand reef fish spawning aggregations and habitat.

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