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https://www.positive.news/environment/conservation/web-of-undersea-cables-poised-to-become-marine-observatory/>
"A hidden network of underwater fibre optic cables could offer unprecedented
new insights into the lives of some of the world’s most threatened and elusive
sea creatures.
That’s the hope of researchers from the University of Washington, US, who have
laid 1.25 miles of cable across Puget Sound, just south of the Canadian border,
to eavesdrop on the region’s endangered southern resident orcas.
The technique, known as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), works by firing
laser pulses through the fibre optic cables and analysing tiny disturbances
caused by vibrations and sound. It’s already been used to monitor earthquakes
and in recent years has proved adept in detecting marine mammals.
Now the University of Washington’s Dr Shima Abadi hopes to use DAS to track
orcas by mapping the distinctive clicks they make as they hunt and navigate. If
successful, the system could provide early warnings to ships to slow down or
steer clear, reducing the risk of disturbing or injuring the whales. Scaled up,
the approach could tap into the 870,000 miles of fibre optic cable
criss-crossing the planet’s oceans.
“This innovative approach could be a break-through in conservation efforts and
open new possibilities to expand analysis on a much larger temporal and spatial
scale,” said Abadi."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
