Researchers at the Leibniz Institute: fish create waves to protect against birds
Frame: Daily Mail
In Mexico, fish of the type of small-fin mollies have found an unusual way to protect themselves from attacks by birds of prey. Reported by the Daily Mail.
Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, led by David Bierbach, drew attention to the possibility of small-fin mollies gathering in schools and creating waves. In their opinion, in this way the fish protect themselves from kingfishers and ciskads hunting them. However, it remains unclear why exactly the waves keep birds from attacking, and also reduce the likelihood of effective hunting.
Bjerbach noted that it will take more time to study this issue, but, most likely, the waves confuse the birds and prevent them from focusing on the goal. He added that thanks to the waves, the time between the attacks of birds on fish increased, and sometimes predators even decided to move to another place.
“The main surprise was when we realized how many fish can act together in such repetitive waves. There are up to four thousand fish per square meter, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of fish participate in one wave, and they can repeat movements for two minutes, ”said ecologist Jens Krause.
Professor Krause added that so far scientists have mostly explained how collective behaviors arise from the interactions of individuals, but it was unclear why animals create these patterns in the first place. Research has shown that some collective behaviors can be very effective in protecting against predators.
Earlier it was reported that in a nature reserve in Florida, a pelican entered the Wildlife Assistance Center after an unsuccessful hunt – a hungry animal caught and tried to eat a large crucian carp. However, the greedy bird could neither swallow nor spit out its catch, which literally stood across its throat.
