Old-School Fish Guides
A team of fisheries biologists and biophysicists have created a model that can decipher how fish navigate while migrating through the ocean. This model has provided evidence that experienced fish are able to remember information about certain migration sites. This evidence supports the idea that fish can learn from each other, helping to maintain healthy migration populations. The model is based on three factors: The strength of the social link between the fish, The number of fish that possess the information of the migration site, and the preference the informed fish show for each site. This model helps explain the condition of migrating fish populations.
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39485/title/Old-School-Fish-Guides/
Scientific Themes
- Science is collaborative- A team of biologists and biophysicists worked together to develop the model.
- Science is subject to debate and tentative- The model created in the article doesn't confirm that fish can learn from each other. It only provides evidence that supports this hypothesis.
- Role of Chance- There are countless factors that can affect migrating fish populations that can occur completely by chance.
I've always been amazed by how fish are able to navigate through the open ocean. It makes sense that the older fish guide the school through the ocean on their migration routes. If the fish did not have such a strong social link/travel in schools, the younger fish would have an extremely difficult time finding their way back to where they were born.
ReplyDeleteI thinks its very cool that we are learning how fish navigate the vast expanse of oceans. It's mind numbing to think how large the oceans are, and even stranger to think fish can successfully navigate through them. It makes sense that the schools of fish are led by a couple older "knowledgeable" fish, and that removing them would hinder the schools ability to migrate successfully. Here's a page about the basic idea of what this article is based on.
ReplyDeletehttp://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/95/20140043.abstract