May 17, 2021
To prevent seabirds from being caught in fishing nets, conservationists have developed an unusual aquatic scarecrow which the GNN staff summarily agreed looked just like Pixar’s WALL-E.
Copyright Andres Kalamees, Estonian Ornithological Society
Invented as part of a multinational effort to create innovative solutions to prevent seabird bycatch, a pair of googly-eyes mounted on a floating buoy was found to decrease the numbers of long-tailed ducks loitering around gillnets in Estonian waters by 25%.
Fishing bycatch, defined as the capture of non-intended animals in fishing nets and lines, accounts for the deaths of 400,000 birds worldwide every year, something which conservationists are targeting as a preventable tragedy with different kinds of deterrents.
The Birds and the Buoys: Using Googly Eyes to Avert Extinction
A pair of looming eyes could scare away seabirds from fishing nets in which they are often entangled.
A prototype looming-eyes buoy in waters off Estonia.Credit.Andres Kalamees
By Annie Roth
May 10, 2021
Every day, thousands of hooks and nets meant for fish end up catching seabirds a global problem that is pushing many seabird species to the brink of extinction. But no fishing gear may do more damage than the gillnet, which entangles and kills at least 400,000 seabirds each year.
What if all it took to save them was a pair of googly eyes?
Last modified on Wed 5 May 2021 07.23 EDT
Scarecrows may be outstanding in their field, but now scientists have created an unusual floating version that could help reduce the number of vulnerable seabirds caught by fishing nets.
The device, known as a looming-eyes buoy (LEB), and developed in collaboration with engineers from Fishtek Marine, was trialled in Küdema Bay, Saaremaa island, Estonia, on long-tailed ducks. It uses bright eyespots and looming movements to act as a natural deterrent, preventing seabirds from diving into gillnets â vertical nets used in small-scale fisheries in many countries.
Publishing their findings in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the scientists â from BirdLife International and the Estonian Ornithological Society â found the device to reduce the numbers of birds by a quarter within a 50-metre radius of the buoy.
Floating ‘WALL-E’ scarecrow stops seabirds diving into fishing nets Rhi Storer
Scarecrows may be outstanding in their field, but now scientists have created an unusual floating version that could help reduce the number of vulnerable seabirds caught by fishing nets.
The device, known as a looming-eyes buoy (LEB), and developed in collaboration with engineers from Fishtek Marine, was trialled in Küdema Bay, Saaremaa island, Estonia, on long-tailed ducks. It uses bright eyespots and looming movements to act as a natural deterrent, preventing seabirds from diving into gillnets – vertical nets used in small-scale fisheries in many countries.
Publishing their findings in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the scientists – from BirdLife International and the Estonian Ornithological Society – found the device to reduce the numbers of birds by a quarter within a 50-metre radius of the buoy.
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