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Pelagic organisms avoid white, blue, and red artificial light from scientific instruments
Maxime Geoffroy1,2, Tom Langbehn3, Pierre Priou4
1Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada. maxime.geoffroy@mi.mun.ca.
Scientific Reports
|July 23, 2021
Summary
Marine organisms, including fish and zooplankton, avoid artificial light, even red light, causing biased in situ optical measurements. This avoidance significantly impacts abundance estimates and behavioral studies in marine ecosystems.
Area of Science:
- Marine Biology
- Ecological Optics
- Fisheries Science
Background:
- In situ optical instruments for observing pelagic organisms often use artificial light sources.
- Artificial light can influence marine organism behavior, potentially biasing measurements.
- It is commonly assumed that red light does not affect pelagic organisms, making it suitable for underwater observations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the behavioral response of pelagic organisms to artificial light sources of varying colors.
- To determine if red light influences pelagic organism distribution and behavior.
- To assess the reliability of optical and acoustic instruments for ecosystem studies.
Main Methods:
- Utilized hull-mounted echosounders combined with an acoustic probe and a baited video camera.
- Equipped instruments with light sources of different colors: white, blue, and red (575-700 nm).
- Conducted observations in Arctic and temperate marine regions.
Main Results:
- Pelagic organisms exhibited strong avoidance of all tested artificial light colors, including red light.
- Organism density decreased by up to 99% in the presence of artificial light.
- Avoidance distances ranged from 23 to 94 meters, varying with light color, intensity, and possibly species composition.
Conclusions:
- Artificial light, including red light, significantly impacts pelagic organism distribution and behavior.
- Optical and acoustic instruments using broad-spectrum light (400-700 nm) provide biased ecosystem data.
- These instruments alone are unreliable for accurate abundance estimates or behavioral studies of pelagic ecosystems.
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