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Fish Noises Help Scientists Locate, Understand Them

The striped cusk eel makes a woodpecker-like drumming sound.
Wikipedia
The striped cusk eel makes a woodpecker-like drumming sound.

The sounds fish make can actually be an important tool for scientists attempting to track and manage fish populations. Underwater microphones can identify the presence of invasive species or reveal when and where fish are mating.

Rodney Rountree is an independent marine ecologist who has spent a lot of time in the past several years listening to fish. 

His 25-year career has spanned many research and education institutions, most recently UMass Amherst and the university of Victoria. He's a member of the board of directors for The River Project, a nonprofit environmental group focused on the Hudson River. 

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Elsa Partan is a producer and newscaster with CAI. She first came to the station in 2002 as an intern and fell in love with radio. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. From 2006 to 2009, she covered the state of Wyoming for the NPR member station Wyoming Public Media in Laramie. She was a newspaper reporter at The Mashpee Enterprise from 2010 to 2013. She lives in Falmouth with her husband and two daughters.