When scientists are studying fish or invertebrates they often mark them with acoustic tags that make ultrasonic pinging noises. Although the marked animal cannot hear the sound a new study finds that predators such as grey seals may hear those tags as a dinner bell.
Amanda L. Stansbury of the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland and colleagues set up a foraging experiment consisting of 20 boxes placed at regular locations along the bottom of the wall of a long pool:
Eighteen boxes were empty, one had fish in it, and the last had fish plus an acoustic fish tag. Each seal was then given 20 trials to find a fish. The results of the study were published November 19 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.More: Science News
Over time, the seals became better at finding a box with the fish. And in the later trials, they found the fish in the box with the tag more easily than the one with the fish alone.
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