May 7, 2021
A floating scarecrow with googly eyes could help reduce the number of seabirds caught in fishing nets, researchers have said.
The "looming-eyes buoy" with big eye spots and a looming movement can create a visual deterrent close to gillnets, a curtain of netting that hangs in the water, to prevent birds diving into them, getting entangled and drowning.
A group of scientists, including from Birdlife International and the RSPB's Centre for Conservation Science in the UK, worked with marine engineers to develop the device, which was then tested on long-tailed ducks in Estonian waters.
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I hope they test the system on other seabird species before large-scale deployment.