Sensors to track Atlantic sturgeon around New NY Bridge

Builders of a new bridge on the Hudson River are installing underwater hydrophone sensors to track endangered sturgeon that swim by, according to Newsday. The sensors will pick up acoustic signals from transmitters implanted in the rare fish.

The New NY bridge project began in 1999, but it wasn’t until October 2011 that legislation was enacted to build it. The company selected to erect the bridge, Tappan Zee Constructors, is required to monitor movement and migration of Atlantic and short-nosed sturgeon under its contract.

The sensors will keep track of the fish while preliminary work on the project gets under way. Efforts to track Atlantic sturgeon populations in other areas along the East Coast have proven effective, with experts seeing population increases in some areas.

Image: An Atlantic sturgeon swims in an aquarium (Credit: vastateparkstaff, via Flickr)