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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Spying on fish. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
High-tech listening devices. Surgically implanted transmitters. Tracking thousands of subjects without their knowledge. It’s not a controversial Homeland Security program: it’s a fish research project. University of Miami marine biologist Jerry Ault and his colleagues are implanting acoustic transmitters into thousands of Florida grouper in and around a marine reserve. Then they’re re-releasing them, and listening in with underwater microphones.
JERRY AULT (University of Miami):
And the transmitter itself is pinging about 3 times a minute, and each pinger has a unique acoustic code so we can identify individual fish.
HIRSHON:
By understanding how the grouper use the protected waters, the researchers hope to figure out how to replenish their overfished population, while still keeping area fisheries well-stocked. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.