BALITA NG DIVING
Big BRUVS magbantay sa ilalim ng tubig
Silky shark sa Ascension Island. (Larawan: Blue Abacus)
An underwater-camera network described as “the world’s largest ocean wildlife monitoring system” is being set up by the UK government in the majority of its Overseas Territories (UKOTs), which cover vast areas of the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans.
Ang deployment ay pinondohan sa ilalim ng Blue Belt program ng gobyerno, na sumasaklaw sa higit sa 1.5 milyong square miles ng karagatan, ayon sa Center for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).
Ang mga siyentipiko ng sentro ay nagtatrabaho kasama ang mga teritoryo, ang University of Western Australia at ang fish-counting body na Blue Abacus para mag-set up ng 66 na "non-intrusive" Baited Remote Underwater Video Mga istasyon o BRUVS sa open-ocean at coastal habitats, at suriin ang data na nakolekta mula sa kanila.
The carbon-fibre BRUVs are stationary and “stereo”, consisting of two cameras on a frame located to enable lengths and distances to be calculated. A commonly used fish-surveying tool, they record both species attracted to the fish-bait they hold, and those that simply swim past.
Magkasama ang BRUVS ay bubuo ng "Global Ocean Wildlife Analysis Network", na nagbibigay ng data sa karagatang biodiversity at ecosystem sa mga dagat sa paligid ng Anguilla, Ascension Island, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena at Tristan da Cunha.
Ang mga teritoryo sa ibang bansa na hindi kasama sa programa ay ang Bermuda, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, South Georgia at South Sandwich Islands at Turks & Caicos.
Ang data na naipon ay inaasahang magbibigay-daan sa mga siyentipiko at UKOT na magtakda ng mga benchmark para sa pagkakaiba-iba at kasaganaan ng mga species, na may pinahusay na impormasyon lalo na sa migratory species na nagpapaalam sa mga desisyon tungkol sa proteksyon at pamamahala.
3 Abril 2021
“The world’s tunas, sharks and large reef fish continue to decline in numbers and this trend must be reversed,” said co-founder of Blue Abacus and University of Western Australia professor Jessica Meeuwig. “This programme will give decision-makers the evidence they need to act decisively in support of their blue economies.
“Our refinements to conventional underwater cameras are what makes possible the roll-out of this programme over four ocean basins, the largest single such government-supported initiative globally.” The equipment is to be delivered over the next few months.