Scientists could use gulf coast sharks with satellite-linked tags to predict hurricane intensity by measuring ocean temperatures



Scientists may be able to predict just how big a storm could get with the help of 750 sharks, tuna, tarpon, and billfish now swimming through the Gulf of Mexico with satellite-linked tags.

University of Miami researchers tagged the animals over the past decade to record water temperature and salinity at various depths.

Earlier this year, researchers discovered that those temperature figures could actually be crucial warning signs for people living in hurricane zones.



Tagged sharks measuring ocean temperature could help scientists predict the intensity of hurricanes

The tags measure ocean temperature and salinity and transmit data to satellite whenever the animal nears or breaches the surface

Hurricane season's intensity depends largely on how much warm water is in the region as the storm forms, The Houston Chronicle reports.



'The fish act as biological sensors,' marine biologist Jerald Ault told the paper. 'The fish dive, so they create a vertical picture of what the water temperature looks like.'

With that vertical picture scientists can calibrate Ocean Heat Content, a statistic critical to forecasting storm strength.



The tags were first used in 2001 and since their introduction scientists have discovered fish typically head towards water at roughly 79 degrees.



Fish tags provide firsthand access to pinpoint information not available through the satellite data used by meteorologists measuring isotherms.

Researchers have tagged 750 ocean dwellers with the technology

'The data that the tags were providing could provide higher resolution data than the forecasters were getting,' said Ault.

The sharks are typically tagged below the dosal fin where there are few blood cells and a scarcity of nerve tissue.



Whenever the sharks near or break the surface, the tag is triggered. Any data recorded is then transmitted to the satellite.



The sharks provide exact data impossible to record with normal satellite imagery

'We've had fish move from Veracruz, Mexico, to the mouth of the Mississippi River in 30 days,' said Ault. 'Plus, they go back and forth, it's not a straight route, you could get tens of millions of data records.'

He added that such mass information could save lives.

