Researchers in Sequim studying how new energy technology could impact fish
The black cod housed in a tank at the Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim recently swam into a much bigger home in Sequim Bay where researchers are testing how they might react to technology that would harness the tide for renewable power.
The fish were loaded into a special cage that lowered them near devices underwater which will track their behavior.
"We put them in the cage. It locks the top. Then the bottom door will unhinge. We release that. I will hold it tight so the fish will stay in the cage and then as soon as we drop it, I release the door and water pressure will keep it closed on the way down. As soon as the weight hits the ground, we know it's at 1.8 m depth. We pull up, it will open the door and the fish will come out," explained Cailene Gunn, a scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
The researchers want to know how marine life could change if new equipment is added to their habitat like underwater turbines.
"To be disturbed by the device, either by the sound or just by the fact that it's in their habitat and I don't know what it is, and if we don't monitor this to check it, we won't be able to tell," said Marine Sciences Laboratory Division Director Genevra Harker Klimes.
The fish participants have surgically-inserted acoustic tags that will trigger sensors underwater. Those sensors will report data back to the scientists.
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