Scientists: Plastic Beads Could Save the Lives of Aquatic Creatures

How Researchers Make Nets Visible to Aquatic Creatures

Experts believe simple plastic beads could save thousands of porpoises and other cetaceans that are entangled in fishing nets each year, according to The Guardian. 

Echolocation is used by harbour porpoises to locate prey and for navigation because their auditory signals can't penetrate the meshwork of the gillnet, which traps them.

In order to make the nets visible to water creatures using echolocation, Stepputtis and his colleagues came up with a new design. Transparent acrylic glass beads are used to embellish the nets.

Fishermen won't notice much of an increase in weight since the substance is almost as dense as water. However, when struck by biosonar, the polymer emits an incredibly loud echo, alerting nearby animals to the danger that lurks just around the corner.

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Tests Conducted in Different Location

In the western Baltic Sea, near the Danish island of Funen, the technology's first experiments have showed some promise. A bead-equipped net kept harbour porpoises away from the area where they were hunting.

The animals' acoustic signals were captured by the researchers, and this should provide further information about their precise behavioural reactions. However, it is possible that this approach has certain drawbacks.

Another set of experiments was carried out by the researchers in the Black Sea, where a huge number of harbor porpoises are caught as bycatch in the turbot fishery.

A day may see as many as twelve people slain, according to Stepputtis. A regular gillnet and a net with beads were used for a total of ten hauls each. Standard nets claimed the lives of five porpoises, whereas modified nets claimed the lives of two.

The trapped creatures may have been sleeping, according to Stepputtis. The biosonar of dormant porpoises is only infrequently activated. Stepputtis and colleagues are also deploying a novel acoustic alerting device that delivers synthetic porpoise warning sounds as a result of this The gadget was shown to minimize bycatch by almost 80 percent in field experiments.

(Photo : Tim Hartelt)

Outcome of the Tests

Various species utilize different frequencies, therefore the polymer beads may be tuned to best match their resonant frequencies. Stepputtis claims that it may be used by any creature that uses echolocation, including the Amazon river dolphin. Scientists believe that combining the two ideas might rescue thousands of animals.

Millions of dolphins, turtles, seagulls, and other marine animals are killed each year in different fishing gears. About 300,000 whales are killed each year, according to experts.

As a result, bycatch is a grave danger to many species. Fishing using illegal gillnets has driven the vaquita to the verge of extinction in the Gulf of California, while right whales in the North West Atlantic are being killed by entanglements caused by lobster pots.

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