marine

How do Seahorses Feel About Paparazzi?

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What do you do when you see something cool? ⁣ In the diving industry it's not uncommon for divers to use flash photography to capture the unique marine fishes swimming around them.⁣

⁣Up until recently the impacts of fash photography were unknown.  A study just released by Maarten De Brauwer and his colleagues, found that seahorses, in particular, were more impacted by the manipulation surrounding the photo then the flash itself.⁣

⁣Despite the 4,600 exposures to full power flash guns over 34 days there were no observable impacts on sea horse feeding behavior or foraging success.⁣

⁣While the flashes don't impact them we should still be respectful of these animals' environments and avoid harassment.⁣

⁣If you would like to read the whole article it is available to the public here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37356-2

De Brauwer, Maarten, et al. "Behavioural and pathomorphological impacts of flash photography on benthic fishes." Scientific Reports 9.1 (2019): 748.