The Geometry of Schooling Fish

Shoals or schools of fish have intrigued scientists for some time. It has been commonly thought that schools of fish form because the fish are trying to hide behind the other to avoid predators. But digging deeper, scientists from the University of Saint Andrews recently found other factors involved in the formation of schools including oxygen and need for food. Using multibeam sonar on over 1000 krill shoals, they found an average roughness of 3.3/m; surface area to volume. Incredibly while looking at previous studies they found the same ratio across species. Math is amazing. Furthermore, when oxygen drops in the center, the school scatters and reforms. More in the link below.

Guest Blog: Now in 3-D: The shape of krill and fish schools

 

Great article, nice read.

 

Wonderful article, thanks for sharing

 

Interesting article.