The great white shark probably is the most feared of all ocean animals. It gained that scary reputation 50 years ago thanks to a blockbuster movie: Jaws. The movie premiered on June 20th, 1975, and quickly became the all-time box office champion. It scared a lot of people out of the water—and set off a frenzy of shark killings. People killed thousands of them, and even competed in shark-hunting tournaments.
Sound travels farther in water than it does in the air, and acoustics are an important aspect of daily life for marine creatures ranging from whales to coral. In addition to communication, many marine animals rely on sound for navigation, hunting, avoiding predators, and choosing ideal places to live. Baby oysters are among the many species that depend on sound cues in their environment to determine where best to settle down. But researchers in Australia have discovered a growing challenge for oysters: the interference of human-created noise in the ocean.
