Behind the glass at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah, sharks swim in apparent silence. But just how quiet is life in an aquarium? Using underwater microphones called hydrophones, the BYU Acoustics Research Group set out to learn how much sound from visitors travels through the sharks’ tank and whether it affects their well-being.
They discovered human voices are masked by the walls and the hum of the filtration system, data that guided the design of a new tank. Student researcher Madilyn Moore Randall (BS ’25) loves that “[the] community feels comfortable enough to bring projects to BYU,” and she hopes to continue “making an impact using acoustics.”
