In an effort to boost its underwater monitoring systems, the US military has enlisted some rather unusual help - in the form of fish.
The US military has revealed plans to use fish as ‘underwater spies’ to monitor enemy activity, as part of the Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS) project.
Speaking at the launch of the project, Dr Lori Adornato, programme manager, said: “The US Navy’s current approach to detecting and monitoring underwater vehicles is hardware-centric and resource intensive.
“As a result, the capability is mostly used at the tactical level to protect high-value assets like aircraft carriers, and less so at the broader strategic level.
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“If we can tap into the innate sensing capabilities of living organisms that are ubiquitous in the oceans, we can extend our ability to track adversary activity and do so discreetly, on a persistent basis, and with enough precision to characterise the size and type of adversary vehicles.”
So far, the US military has invested $45 million (£35 million) into the project, which has been split between five research teams.
According to Scientific American , one team is focusing on goliath groupers - fish they believe could be used to detect approaching submarines or drones.
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Meanwhile, another team is turning its attention to noises made by snapping shrimp, which could be used as a natural form of sonar.
The results from the five teams are expected to be published in the next few years, after which the US military will decide how to use fish going forwards.
