Money Well Spent

I am always amazed at the things people study I am more amazed at countries that spend significant sums of money to accomplish these studies.

Case in point - The following is an actual study.


The Study: Do Herring Communicate by Passing Gas Study


Conducted By: Canada and Britain



Two teams carried out this research project. One studied Pacific herring in Bamfield, British Columbia, while the other focused on Atlantic herring in Oban, Scotland. It was discovered that the Atlantic and Pacific herring create a mysterious underwater noise. It turns out that the high-frequency sound was created by releasing air from their butts. The noise was always accompanied by a fine stream of bubbles. Researchers suspect herring hear the bubbles as they’re expelled, helping the fish form protective shoals at night. (Herring hearing must be very sharp!)

Interesting Fact: Researchers named the phenomenon Fast Repetitive Tick, which makes for a rather interesting acronym, FRT. Scientists say unlike the human version, these FRTs are thought to bring the fish closer together.