Scientists could use gulf coast sharks with satellite-linked tags to predict hurricane intensity

Scientists may be able to predict just how big a storm could get with the help of 750 sharks, tuna, tarpon, and billfish now swimming through the Gulf of Mexico with satellite-linked tags, the Daily Mail reports. 

University of Miami researchers tagged the animals over the past decade to record water temperature and salinity at various depths.

Earlier this year, researchers discovered that those temperature figures could actually be crucial warning signs for people living in hurricane zones.

Hurricane season's intensity depends largely on how much warm water is in the region as the storm forms, The Houston Chronicle reports.

'The fish act as biological sensors,' marine biologist Jerald Ault told the paper. 'The fish dive, so they create a vertical picture of what the water temperature looks like.'

With that vertical picture scientists can calibrate Ocean Heat Content, a statistic critical to forecasting storm strength.

The tags were first used in 2001 and since their introduction scientists have discovered fish typically head towards water at roughly 79 degrees.

Fish tags provide firsthand access to pinpoint information not available through the satellite data used by meteorologists measuring isotherms.

'The data that the tags were providing could provide higher resolution data than the forecasters were getting,' said Ault.

The sharks are typically tagged below the dosal fin where there are few blood cells and a scarcity of nerve tissue.

Whenever the sharks near or break the surface, the tag is triggered. Any data recorded is then transmitted to the satellite.

'We've had fish move from Veracruz, Mexico, to the mouth of the Mississippi River in 30 days,' said Ault. 'Plus, they go back and forth, it's not a straight route, you could get tens of millions of data records.'

He added that such mass information could save lives.

'The fish can give a gazillion pieces of information, and that represents a really exciting opportunity,' said Nick Shay, professor of meteorology and oceanography at Rosenstiel.