The Cowan Fisheries Science Labs in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences is among the first to utilize acoustic methods to monitor fish in the wild.”This equipment was developed prior to use for our purposes,” said Jim Cowan, professor of oceanography and leader of the Cowan Lab, in a University press release “It was developed for military surveillance of harbors and ports. Also, the state of Alaska routinely uses it to count salmon, but we are among the first to use it for habitat and behavioral research.”The technology uses pulses of sound to form real-time video images of objects underwater, giving researchers the opportunity to study marine life that has previously only been guessed at.
 
—–Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]