How Many Fish in that River?
Have you ever wondered if there was any way of counting how many fish were in a given stretch of river?
In 2004, CSIRO researchers discovered that they could count fish by using hydroacoustics.
Hydroacoustics is the study of sound waves in water. By using hydroacoustics, the CSIRO researchers were able to accurately count almost all fish within a number of areas within the Murray River in Australia.
Prior to this discovery, they were only able to count fish that were greater than 10 centimeters in length. Using hydroacoustics, they were ale to measure fish as small as 2 centimeters.
OK, What’s the big Deal - Why Count Fish Anyway?
One reason counting fish is more significant than it sounds is that fish are an important indicator of the health of river systems. The more fish in a river the healthier that river is likely to be.
For more detail on this discovery, check out the full CSIRO article.
Tags: counting fish, CSIRO, hydroacoustics
