Watch Fish Go WILD on the Coral City Camera

To be fair, they’re wild fish, streaming live from an underwater art-research project in Miami, Florida.


Somewhere right now, at the east end of Port Miami, a parrotfish sings. Well, maybe not right now, but if it did, you could catch the entire thing LIVE –– all thanks to the Coral City Camera.

This hybrid art-science research project isn’t just something out of an online aquascaper's wet dream. The Coral City Camera, which streams 24/7 from an urban reef near Dodge Island, offers curious voyeurs a “fish-eye view” into a flourishing Anthropocene ecosystem, reminding us that even the most unexpected locations can harbor unique opportunities for environmental research and education.

Don’t see anything right now? It’s nature! Either that, or it’s night. Remember: this is the open ocean, and fish activity varies depending on the tide, the weather, and how cloudy it is in the water. A hot tip from the Coral City Camera’s handy FAQ is that fish activity around the CCC is highest in the late afternoon and lowest in the early morning. And don’t worry about the massive wiper. Something’s gotta keep that dome clean every four hours.

The Coral City Camera was made possible by Coral Morphologic, Bridge Initiative, and Bas Fisher Invitational. We heard about it from fellow Silica contributor Lee Pivnik, who helped out with the CCC and wrote a fascinating article for us last issue about termites, queer theory, and planetary mutualism.

Interested in learning more about the next big thing in aquatic camming? Check out the Coral City Camera’s fantastic Catalog of Marine Life, or heck, do a research project based on their publicly-available data. You can also just use the live stream as a screensaver, forgetting about your workday as you relax to the sound of a French Angelfish float.

Read more on Coral City Camera.