Scientists tagging sharks in Gulf to predict hurricane intensity

Fifty sharks, tuna, tarpon and billfish are swimming around the Gulf of Mexico right now fitted with satellite-linked tags to help scientists track water temperatures and perhaps one day help improve hurricane forecasting.

The devices were put there by researchers at the University of Miami who have tagged a total of 750 animals in the past 10 years to record water temperature and salinity at different depths.

The fish had merely provided data of interest to biologists, but earlier this year scientists realized the temperature figures coming back from the animals could be crucial to humans living in the path of hurricanes.

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Source: Houston Chronicle