Some call them consummate predators and rulers of the sea.
These days, however, sharks are being called something altogether different: ocean weathermen.
That's because more than 750 sharks, tarpon, tuna and billfish, fitted with satellite-linked tags, are providing scientists with data about temperature and salinity at various depths in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean.
It's information researchers—and perhaps insurers and risk professionals—hope will someday be used to improve hurricane forecasting, emergency awareness and loss mitigation, as a storm's strength largely depends on how much warm water it will encounter.
“What the fish are providing is a profile of the ocean's heat structure,” says Jerald Ault, a marine biology professor at the University of Miami. “You get a picture of what the upper layers of the ocean look like.”
To learn more about patterns Dr. Ault and other researchers began to observe about 3 years ago, along with the potential implications for the P&C industry, read the full article here.
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