Counting fishes in the open ocean
Jessica Meeuwig| 15 July 2021
New publication
“And to the question asked by Ecclesiastes six thousand years ago, ‘That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?” - Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The fishes and sharks of the open ocean are amongst the most threatened animals globally. Yet, basic knowledge on how many there are and whether their numbers are stable, declining or increasing is limited at best, despite the ecological and economic importance of these animals. Publishing in Frontiers in Marine Science, this paper provides a Perspective on how mid-water baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) can be used to monitor the marine wildlife of the world’s largest ocean conservation network, the UK’s Blue Belt Programme. We highlight how technological progress in miniaturization and material science has transformed our capacity to monitor ocean wildlife. We also review key contributions from BRUVS-based research such as identifying the locations of the last refuges of ocean predators and the locations of potential shark nurseries.
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Midwater BRUVS
Naima Andrea Lopez deploying a midwater BRUVS off the southwest coast of Western Australia.
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Sharks on BRUVS
Silvertip sharks (Carcharhinus albimarginatus) captured on BRUVS.
