Traffic Cone Protects Birds

Bright orange traffic cones that warn drivers of danger on the road are now being used to steer seabirds away from deadly entanglement in fishing nets, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reports.

"We're really excited about this device," said Avecita Chicchon, director of the WCS' Latin American and Caribbean Program. "It's very simple but will make a big difference in albatross mortality due to long-line fisheries — the primary factor in its endangered status,"

Known as the "traffic cone," the orange device helps seabirds like the albatross view hard-to-see cabling that is used to lower fishing nets. Sea birds sometimes strike the lines as they dive for fishing boat leftovers, dragging many of the creatures underwater.

"It is a simple, cost-effective, practical device that could be easily applied in trawler fisheries operating in Argentine waters and around the world," said Diego Gonzalez Zevallos, the device's inventor and Argentinean marine biologist.

Zevallos was recently awarded $10,000 for his invention as a runner-up in an international competition sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

—LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Diego Gonzalez Zevallos