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Underwater telecommunications infrastructure is being repurposed as a novel conservation tool to protect vulnerable marine mammals. Researchers are now utilizing fibre optic cables laid on the ocean floor to gain valuable insights into the behavior and movement of some of the most endangered sea species.
A team from the University of Washington has deployed 1.25 miles of fibre optic cable in Puget Sound, near the Canadian border, with the aim of monitoring the region’s at-risk southern resident orcas. This initiative uses a method called distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), which sends laser pulses through the cables and detects subtle disturbances caused by vibrations and sounds. Although DAS has traditionally been employed for earthquake detection, its application in tracking marine mammals is a relatively recent development.
Dr. Shima Abadi of the University of Washington intends to map orca echolocation clicks using this technology to better understand their hunting and navigation habits. If this approach proves effective, it could provide early alerts to ships, prompting them to slow down or alter their course to avoid harming or stressing the whales. With a global network of about 870,000 miles of fibre optic cables under the sea, this system has the potential to be expanded on a vast scale.
“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,” Dr. Abadi said, highlighting the potential impact of the project. The adoption of this technology marks a promising advancement in the effort to protect endangered marine life
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