How Scarybirds are flying to the rescue of endangered species

The Berlengas archipelago off the coast of Portugal is a nature reserve — and a valuable breeding space for shearwaters, cormorants, gulls and different seabirds.

Ana Almeida and Elisabete Silva are marine conservation officers at the Portuguese Society for the Examine of Birds. For years, they’ve been serving to the native seabird populations.

Seabirds in peril

"Seabirds are wonderful!” says Ana. “They're birds that discover three totally different environments: the skies, land and the ocean. And so they have these improbable and wonderful diversifications to stay within the water. They're actually resistant, and they're wonderful sentinels of the well being of our oceans. So if they're going through decline, it's telling us that the ocean is just not wholesome anymore and that we've got to do one thing."

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The Balearic Shearwater is probably the most threatened seabird species in Europe. It makes use of this space throughout winter, and the predictions say that in 60 years if we do not do something, it will likely be extinct.

Ana Almeida

Marine Conservation Officer, Portuguese Society for the Examine of Birds

On the principle islands of the archipelago, they preserve synthetic nests to assist shearwaters increase their younger. However whereas some chicken species are doing nicely, others are steadily declining — and in latest a long time, some have fully disappeared.

"Seabirds are the group of birds which can be extra threatened by human actions and different threats,” Ana explains. “For instance, the Balearic Shearwater is probably the most threatened seabird species in Europe. It makes use of this space throughout winter, and the predictions say that in 60 years if we do not do something, it will likely be extinct. It won't exist anymore. So we've got a number of species going through totally different threats and having extreme declines of their populations."

Unintentional killings are a significant factor

However why this decline? Might or not it's associated to the fishing in these wealthy waters? Half of all seabird populations in Europe are declining or thought-about threatened. Many of those birds are by chance killed by hooks and nets of fishing vessels - that’s greater than 200,000 seabirds yearly, one chicken each three minutes - in European waters alone.

Among the many many causes of the seabirds' decline, unintended bycatch is taken into account one of the crucial essential. So right here in Berlengas, conservationists are working along with fishermen in a EU-funded undertaking that seeks to guard the birds in a easy and reasonably priced means.

These fishermen use a long-line with baited hooks that float near the ocean floor. Birds that dive for the bait can get hooked and injured and even killed. For the fishermen, such accidents aren't simply upsetting: they injury their gear and reduce catches.

"We do not prefer it,” says fisherman Francisco Nunes. “As a result of along with capturing the animal it messes with our work — if a chicken will get trapped, we gained’t catch any fish in all the space."

Researchers tried some ways to maintain the seabirds away, however what appears to work greatest is an easy "Scarybird". It flies like a kite, appears like a predator and could be positioned at sea near the fishing traces, scaring actual birds away from the hazard zone.

“The birds maintain away, which reduces the danger of unintended seize,” says Elisabete. “That could be a superb consequence, as a result of it's a quite simple software that may be a win-win for each the birds and the fishermen."

The analysis undertaking — MedAves Pesca — is now assessing the outcomes with the aim of serving to defend seabirds in different components of Europe and the world as nicely. The undertaking is a finalist of the European Natura 2000 Award this yr.

Recovering misplaced nets

However what about life underwater? Misplaced fishing nets keep it up trapping marine animals for ages. Eradicating them could be costly and dangerous for divers. And with time, fishing nets disintegrate into tiny fragments that discover their means into the meals chain — and ultimately our meals.

At CIIMAR, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Analysis on the College of Porto, scientists are finding out the microplastics that come from fishing gear and which may endanger marine life in some ways - together with by spreading dangerous germs.

"Nets are made from plastics, so we've got all the issues that we see at this time of plastics within the water,” says Marisa Almeida, a researcher in environmental chemistry at CIIMAR. “And so they can produce a small items of plastic and ultimately microplastics, which may find yourself being meals for the fish and find yourself within the meals chain. Or they'll soak up lots of pollution which can be within the water."

"There are some micro organism and a few microorganisms which can be absorbed within the plastics,” provides Sandra Ramos, a researcher in marine ecology, additionally at CIIMAR. “It is like a brand new dwelling for them. So the issue is just not solely bodily, but it surely's additionally that microplastics can work as a transporter of different contaminants to all of the wildlife that ingests them."

It is best to search out and retrieve misplaced nets earlier than they break into small items. The CIIMAR researchers teamed up with robotic engineers from the INESC TEC institute for an additional European undertaking - NetTag. They've designed IRIS - a robotic that may discover its means underwater utilizing acoustics and synthetic intelligence.

"This robotic was developed to assist the fishermen to search out misplaced fishing gear, misplaced fishing nets,” explains Alfredo Martins, Senior researcher in robotics at INESC TEC/ISEP. “So as to take action, the fishing nets are outfitted with a small transducer, a small piece of acoustic package. So it appears like this small cylinder that we see right here. Once we put the robotic underwater, the robotic begins to ping, begins to ask, is anyone on the market? And so this tag will reply it.

"So the robotic can discover its personal means in direction of the web. On this means, the fishermen, once they wish to get well the web, they are going to drop the robotic within the water, and the robotic can begin to search for the place the web is."

The engineers are fairly pleased with how IRIS works within the experimental pool. However can it carry out within the open sea, with its underwater currents, obstacles and restricted visibility?

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Sometimes, you'd have a robotic like this being owned both by the harbour or by the fishing affiliation. After which whether it is wanted to select up some fishing gear underwater, or to examine one thing and to see what's occurring in a sure place, they'll use the shared useful resource, which is the robotic.

Alfredo Martins

Senior researcher in robotics, INESC TEC/ISEP

To seek out that out, we went on a subject journey with native fishermen. They hate shedding their nets that are very pricey to switch.

"If we lose a internet we attempt to scrap round with a hook, and if we do not discover it instantly, there's nothing else we are able to do!" says fisherman João Graça Nunes.

Researchers drop the web with an acoustic tag into the ocean after which deploy IRIS to search out it and convey it again.

They are saying the acoustic tags are cheap and could be added to nets with out affecting value. The robotic is meant to be simple to make use of and reasonably priced sufficient to be shared between just a few vessels.

"Sometimes, you'd have a robotic like this being owned both by the harbour or by the fishing affiliation,” says Alfredo. “After which whether it is wanted to select up some fishing gear underwater, or to examine one thing and to see what's occurring in a sure place, they'll use the shared useful resource, which is the robotic."

Because the prototype nears completion, the researchers are aiming to discover a companion to carry the robotic to the market within the foreseeable future — hopefully giving the fishing trade one other software to scale back its environmental affect and higher defend marine life from unintended hurt.