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Podcast: Mongabay Newscast
Episode: Mongabay Reports: Spies in the sky, albatrosses alert authorities to illegal fishing
Description: Can an albatross detect illegal fishing vessels? Findings from published research say yes: over the course of six-months, 169 albatrosses fitted with radar-detecting trackers covered 47 million square kilometers of the southern Indian Ocean found radar signals from 353 ships. Many of these vessels had no AIS signal, which is an indicator that a ship has switched it off in an attempt to remain hidden, but little did they know that the albatrosses revealed them. Science journalist Shreya Dasgupta reported on the study for Mongabay in 2020, here: Any illegal fishing going on around here? Ask an...