Fish Tagged For Research Become Lunch For Gray Seals

sciencehabit writes: When scientists slap an acoustic tag on a fish, they may be inadvertently helping seals find their next meal. The tags — rods a few centimeters long that give off a ping that can be detected from up to a kilometer away — are often used to follow fish for studies on their migration, hunting, or survival rates. Researchers working with 10 gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) who were captive for a year have now reported that the animals can learn to associate the pings with food. If the findings hold true in the wild, the authors warn, they could skew the results of studies trying to analyze fish survival rates or predation.

Comments

Seems pretty benign

[EzInKy]

Humans have been manipulating the evolution of other lifeforms for hundreds of thousands of years or more already. Perhaps mostly inadvertantly, but our effect is nonetheless there. The trick here would be ensure that only the furriest seals benefit from this technology.

Re:Seems pretty benign

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem isn't the impact it has on the ecosystem, it is that the test results can become skewed by the monitored fish becomes easier to catch.

Fair chance

[muttoj]

Equip the fish with lasers to even the odds.

it figures

[marcello_dl]

-[Seal] Give me a ping, fish, one ping only....
-[TAG] PING
-[Fish] WTF again?!?!
-[Seal] GULP
-[Humans] Damn, we lost another one... oh well, back to youporn.

Re:It ain't the seals that are wise ...

[Thanshin]

Let me help you a bit further:

Why's it never light on my lawn?
Why did it rain and never say good day to the newborn?
On the big screen they showed us a sun
But not as bright in life as the real one
It's never quite the same as the real one

And tell me, grey seal
How does it feel to be so wise?
To see through eyes that only see what's real
Tell me, grey seal

I never learned why meteors were formed
I only farmed in schools that were so worn and torn
If anyone can cry then so can I
I read books and draw life from the eye
All my life is drawings from the eye

And tell me, grey seal
How does it feel to be so wise?
To see through eyes that only see what's real
Tell me, grey seal

Your mission bells were wrought by ancient men
The roots were formed by twisted roots
Your roots were twisted then
I was reborn before all life could die
The phoenix bird will leave this world to fly
If the phoenix bird can fly, then so can I

And tell me, grey seal
How does it feel to be so wise?
To see through eyes that only see what's real
Tell me, grey seal

Easy solution for the scientists

[yo303]

Change the scope of to study to be the migration patterns of seals who are good at finding pinging fish.

Re:It ain't the seals that are wise ...

[TapeCutter]

-Engage Scottish Accent -
Just one ping! We don't want to be mobbed by hungry seals.

Re:So you use Radio instead, eh?

[gmarsh]

Radio waves don't travel well underwater. You need stupidly low frequencies like those used for submarine communication, and you won't be able to generate those frequencies from an object that's a few cm long which means you're stuck with acoustic methods. The tags in question operate at 69KHz, which as far as I know is outside the hearing range of seals - this article makes me wonder though, I've got it bookmarked and I'll give the underlying paper a good read when I've got the time.

I'm actually an engineer at the company that makes the tags in question. We're hardly a huge corporation (100 people) and we don't have the financial clout or even any obvious reason to bankroll corrupt science - we just make scientific gear that helps scientists do their science. I wouldn't consider us to be much different from a company that makes lab coats or glassware.

Re:Easy solution for the scientists^Polar Bears

[BarbaraHudson]

Now that we've solved the problem of feeding seals, let's tag those seals so that polar bears (who are in serious decline) can get their share.

Observer effect

[The Grim Reefer]

It is meaningful in all kinds of ways.