1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: From Bloomberg News and I Heart Radio. It's the big Take. 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: I'm West Cassova today. Whales, sharks, and bees. What do 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: these three creatures have in common. The answer to that 4 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: question all of them are under threat. Endangered whales getting 5 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: hit by container ships, sharks dying on hooks intended for 6 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: other fish. And bees. Well, we all know bees are 7 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: getting closed by pesticides and of course climate change. But 8 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: they've got something else in common too. In each case, 9 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,199 Speaker 1: entrepreneurs or scientists are testing new ways to use artificial 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: intelligence and other technologies to try to protect these species 11 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: from harm. Let's go from big too small and start 12 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: with whales. My co league Todd Woody writes about the 13 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: environment from Bloomberg Green, and he's here with me from 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: San Francisco to tell us about our project that warrens 15 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: ship captains when they're on a collision course with giant 16 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: underwater mammals. Todd, you've written about this new technology called 17 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: Whales Safe, which is intended to stop giant container ships 18 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: from hitting and killing whales. I have to admit I 19 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: didn't know that this was a big problem. How big 20 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: a problem is it for endangered whales? Ship strikes are 21 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: one of the leading causes of death. So it's a 22 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,839 Speaker 1: huge problem, particularly because, for instance, blue whales, their migratory 23 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: patterns and routes cross major global shipping lanes. Scientists aren't 24 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: quite sure, but whales tend to feed in certain spots. 25 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: They may not hear the ship or the noise, you 26 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: might drown out their ability to get out of the way. Definitely, 27 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: it's a major issue. Where's the worst place in the 28 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: world for this? Where does this happen the most. It's 29 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: a global problem. I don't know if there's one particularly 30 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: place it's worse than others. A study that came out 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: in recent years tracked or mapped migration patterns for whales 32 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: across the world, and it really did show that they 33 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: coincide with the major shipping lanes. So how does Whale 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: safe work? How does it actually protect the whales. It's 35 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: operating in two locations, one in the Santa Barbara Channel, 36 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: which is a major blue whale feeding ground and also 37 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: a major super highway for ships heading toward Los Angeles, 38 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: and also off the coast of San Francisco. And what 39 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: they do is they place a hydrophone, which is an 40 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: underwater microphone out in the ocean, which can detect whale vocalizations. 41 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: It's a whale song get whale songs, and so that 42 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: data is beamed to computer servers somewhere and artificial intelligence 43 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: program matches it against library of tens of thousands of 44 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: other whale sounds to identify the type of species, and 45 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: one that species is identified and located, it beams that 46 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: information to ship captains so they can take action like 47 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: slowing down. And so are all the shipping companies now 48 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: tied into this network. It's a totally voluntary program, but 49 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: I think around sixty percent have agreed to use this 50 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: information off California. And since they implemented this has there 51 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: actually been a drop in the number of whales that 52 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: are being struck by these ships. The probably was only 53 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: a couple of years old, but in Santa Barbara, the 54 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: first full year it was an operation, they did show 55 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: a drop in ship strikes. Scientists say it's too early 56 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: to say if you know that this is the causal effect, 57 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: but they say it's good news. Nonetheless. One thing you 58 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: write in your story, which I found really fascinating, is 59 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: that because whales are so depleted after many, many years 60 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: of their populations falling that even just one whale that's 61 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: killed can have a huge effect on the future survival 62 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: of the species. Yes, particularly of blue whales, is only 63 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: like one point to whales per year in certain areas 64 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: would affect the sustainability of the species. We only recover 65 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: the bodies of very tiny portion of whales that are 66 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: hit by ships. Most are hit in the open ocean 67 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: and they sink to the bottom of the ocean, so 68 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: scientists basically have to estimate how many are killed each year. Tad, 69 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: you also write about how important whales are to limiting 70 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: the effects of climate change. You gotta say that was 71 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: a surprising one to me. How do they do that? Yes, 72 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: it's still a developing science, but scientists have quantified how 73 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: much carbon whales absorbed sequester in their bodies, which are huge, 74 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: and when they die, that carbon the bloodies sink to 75 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: the bottom of the ocean where it's sequestered. That probably 76 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: a bigger impact is when they poop. They spawned big 77 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: phytoplankton blooms and phytoplanks sequesters some thirty seven billion tons 78 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,799 Speaker 1: of c O two every year. Top predators like whales 79 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: and sharks are not in disimportant because they're sort of 80 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: charismatic creatures we like to see, but they're vital to 81 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: keeping ocean ecosyst some healthy because they regulate predator prey populations. 82 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: All the things that we're talking about here kind of 83 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: point to a sort of urgent need for action when 84 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: it comes to just protecting biodiversity in oceans to keep 85 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: things from becoming severely imbalanced, losing species that play important roles. 86 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: There have been any number of international efforts, including by 87 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 1: the U n to try to protect marine in life. 88 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: How is that going. We don't actually hear about it 89 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: all that much with so many other things happening in 90 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: the world. Since delegates to the United Nations have been 91 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: negotiating a treaty to protect the biodiversity of the High 92 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: Seas that would be accomplished mainly by creating marine protected 93 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: areas and requiring environmental impact assessments that potentially harmful activities 94 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 1: in international waters. The treaty was supposed to be finalized 95 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: in two but agreement could not be reached. The next 96 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: and supposedly final negotiating session begins February, and you talked 97 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: about the high seas and when we think theres kind 98 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:59,799 Speaker 1: of romantic pirates and the high seas, but that's actually 99 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: a term. What are the high seas? The high seas 100 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: are the areas beyond national jurisdiction, so area of the 101 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: ocean that's beyond the two mile limit of countries exclusive 102 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: economic zone. And what would this agreement, if they're able 103 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: to reach one, what would actually do. What are the 104 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: provisions in it. One of the main provisions that would 105 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: help conserve species would be it would allow the creation 106 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: of marine protected areas on the high seas, so areas 107 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: where fishing could be banned, where other harmful activities could 108 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: be banned. The other aspect would be requiring these environmental 109 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: impact assessments, So before say some big fishing operation or 110 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: some extractive operation could be done, you would have to 111 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: do an assessment to see what the impact would be 112 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: on marine species in the area. And do you think 113 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: it's likely that we're going to see an agreement? Seeing 114 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: how it keeps getting pushed back. They're very close on 115 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: a lot of things. There's some other aspects of the 116 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: treaty that are more controversial that sort of hung up negotiations. 117 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: So it was supposed to be done in the pandemic 118 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: push that back. They met last March that was supposed 119 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: to be the final negotiating session. They did not reach agreement. 120 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: They met again in August, did not reach agreement. So 121 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: there's really there's a lot of pressure on to wrap 122 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: this thing up in February and March of this year, 123 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: given the lack of action by international organizations and governments 124 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: of the world. It seems like the things we're talking 125 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: about here are companies and scientists stepping in to fill 126 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: the need. Are there other examples of companies or scientists 127 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: kind of employing new technologies, AI and other sorts of 128 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: things to help. Yes, there's one very simple technology that's 129 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: been put out there for experimenting that seems to work 130 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: as led lights that are attached to fishing lines, and 131 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: that has been shown to deter sea turtles. So all 132 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: seven of the world's sea turtle species are endangered. So 133 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: these are like lights for some reason, it makes the 134 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: sea turtles stay away from the nets. Is there a 135 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: lot of investment in this or companies putting money into 136 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: developing these technologies or is it just very expensive and 137 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: it's difficult to profit from it. Right now, it's mainly 138 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: scientists who are developing these technologies. I would say there's 139 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: not a you know, not a private investment, but ocean 140 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: companies do have an interest in lowering the impact on 141 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: marine species. I mean, for instance, it's not a good 142 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: look when a cruise ship steams into port with an 143 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: endangered whale wrapped around a bow, which happened in southern 144 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: California a couple of years ago. So there's definitely an 145 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: interest for them too, you know, for instance, like for 146 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: the Whale Safe to sign up for those alerts. We'll 147 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: be right back, Tad. You've written another story about a 148 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: company in the UK that's trying to come up with 149 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: a solution to what's called shark bycatch. That's when sharks 150 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: are caught on hooks that are intended for other fish. 151 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: It's this device called shark Guard. What exactly is it? 152 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: So it's a small slender advice is attached to phishing 153 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,079 Speaker 1: hooks for like long long line tuna vessels, which will 154 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: deploy like miles and miles of phishing hooks, and it 155 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: admits an electric field that shark's consents and it repels 156 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: them because they want to stay away from that field. 157 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: Our producer, Frederica Roman Yellow went to visit phish Tech Marine, 158 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: the company that invented shark Guard, to see how it's made. 159 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: I'm endeavor and I'm here with Pitt Keble. He is 160 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: the co founder of Phish Tech Marine and the managing 161 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: director of the company. The other co founder of the 162 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: companies is brother Ben Kibble. One of the things that 163 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: you are trying to put out in the market is 164 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: something called shark Guard. And you're holding the fourth prototype. 165 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: You're saying, right, yes, that's right. So this is number four, 166 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: hopefully the final prototype. So after this while we're now 167 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,199 Speaker 1: currently working on the sort of final commercial version, if 168 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: you like. So, this device is the shark Guard, generates 169 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: a electric pulse every couple of seconds, generates an electric 170 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: sort of field around the baited hook. The sharks are 171 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: extremely sensitive to electric currents, thousands of times more sensitive 172 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 1: to electric fields than say, teleost fish things like tuna, herring, card, 173 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: et cetera. So the device just literally clips in. This prototype. 174 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: Shark Guard has a small lithium battery and it's designed 175 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: to last for I think it's about sixty or seventy 176 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:38,079 Speaker 1: hours of pulsive sixty seventy hours six to seven days 177 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: of fishing, which typically could be a fishing trip, if 178 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: they're going out a day or two, steaming fishing for 179 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: a week and then steaming back. The holder is fitted 180 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: on the branch line when they're rigging the gear, and 181 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: the shark guard can be removed when you need to 182 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,680 Speaker 1: replace a battery. Let's describe the actual shark guard itself. 183 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: It's a fairly small, maybe ten fifteen centimeter cylinder with copper, 184 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: I think that bronze. These electrodes, and these are sort 185 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,720 Speaker 1: of positive negatives of creating the electric field in a 186 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: clear tube. And you can see the drive circuit here, capacity, battery, 187 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: et cetera. So that's detecting when it's in the water 188 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: and then activating every couple of seconds. It generates a 189 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: thirty forty vault pulse and that's what deters the sharks. 190 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: And how does that work? How does it deter sharks? 191 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: Why are sharks the turd? But say tuna or what 192 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: people want to fish is not the turd. So sharks 193 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: have a system of electro receptors ampili of Lorenzini, tiny 194 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,079 Speaker 1: little pits around the snout in the mouth of the shark, 195 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: and they use this to detect, for example, the tiny 196 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: electric currents generated by fish, by prey. So whenever muscle 197 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: twitches or muscle moves, you've got your neurons, your nerve 198 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: cells and activate the muscle. You get these these tiny 199 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 1: little currents generated. And the sharks developed a very very 200 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: sensitive system of electro receptors so it can detect the 201 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 1: currents that are generated by prey. So sharks have a 202 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: detection threshold if you like, where they can detect the 203 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: electric field and it might actually attract them. Above a 204 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: certain voltage field strength if you like, then it deters them. 205 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: It's too strong, too powerful. So a bit like you know, 206 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: our ears, for example, are designed for picking up sound, 207 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: you know, communicating, you know, speech, et cetera. They're quite 208 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: sensitive organs. If someone's yelling in our ear, it's not 209 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: very comfortable, so we tend to move away. So the 210 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: sharks got very sensitive organ system if you like, these 211 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: electro sensors receptors, but if they're over stimulated, gets to 212 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: the point where it's uncomfortable, so they'll move away from 213 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: that field. There was a study conducted in corporation with 214 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:07,959 Speaker 1: the University of Exeter, which is not too far away 215 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: from here. What did the study find? So the shark 216 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: guards were deployed in a commercial French blue fin tuna 217 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: fishery in the Mediterranean. The fishery has I think that 218 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: about forty fifty vessels active in the fishery and they 219 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: do have an issue with blue shark and pelagic ray 220 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,080 Speaker 1: cartilaginous fish so in the same family as sharks, if 221 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,839 Speaker 1: you like. So we're trying it in the fishery at 222 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: two commercial vessels, five hundred shark guards, five hundred control 223 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,199 Speaker 1: hooks if you like, without shark guards. The results were 224 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 1: pretty pretty astonishing. So we had over ninety reduction in 225 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: blue shark bycatch and about a se reduction in pelagic 226 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: ray bycatch. And do you anticipate a lot of uptake 227 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: in terms of companies that might be interested in this. 228 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:05,359 Speaker 1: There will probably be relatively few fishes that would willingly 229 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: kitten their vessels out with a shark guard system. I 230 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: think the big driver here though, is going to be 231 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: the massive push for shark conservation. So at the moment, 232 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: the plagic fleets are supplying tuner and swordfish too supermarkets 233 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: around the world. Now there's a significant shark by catch 234 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: issue associated with every kiload of tuner and swordfish that 235 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: essentially derived from pledgical longline operations. So my feeling is 236 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: that if there's longline fleets that are currently interacting with 237 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: sharks want to carry on supplying your kind of top 238 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: shelf supermarkets with all the environmental, social, corporate drivers, they're 239 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: going to have to improve their act in terms of 240 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: reducing shark bike catch. And I would hope that over 241 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: the next few years that starts to manifest and we 242 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: start to see more uptake of these, you know, shark 243 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: of shark guard systems in these vessel Todd, we've just 244 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: heard how tech could potentially save sharks from being killed 245 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: each year. Was it so important to protect sharks? Since 246 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, scientists estimate that shark populations have fallen, and 247 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: they estimate around a hundred million sharks are killed each year. 248 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: Often they're killed by being entangled or ensnared in fishing lines. 249 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: It's a huge issue because sharks, again like whales, are 250 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: top predators in the ocean. Todd Woody, thanks so much 251 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: for talking with me. Thank you. When we come back 252 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: from C to air, can technology help save honey bees? 253 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: So we talked about tech solutions to help save whales 254 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: and sharks. Now we're gonna talk about bees. I'm joined 255 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: now by my colleague Coco Lu in New York. Coco, 256 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: you've written a story about a company called bee Flow 257 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: which is helping to restore the populations. Could you tell 258 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: us what this company does. B Flow is California based 259 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 1: to startup, and then it used the biotechnology to help 260 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: these survive under the current threat and also help the 261 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: remaining be population to pollinate to the right crops as 262 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: a way to help farmers increase the crop output. The 263 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: way to do is it has two types of supplements. 264 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,359 Speaker 1: So once I learned from the reporting is that hallibees 265 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: actually don't do very well in code weathers. It's performance 266 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: drops significantly when the temperature is called. Just like humans 267 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: take a supplement to post it's immune system, b Flows 268 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: created supplements using plant based ingredients to help hallibees also 269 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: posted their emune system so they can keep working even 270 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: though the temperature is UH is low. So they essentially 271 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: feed the bees this kind of like vitamin boosts supplement 272 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: to get their energy. Yet it's kind of like that, 273 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 1: so it's a kind of supplement what the company is 274 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: trying to achieve. So one is to give this extra 275 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: nutrition or the nutrition that bees are miss currently missing 276 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: because of the loss of habitat, So bees can you know, 277 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: survive better in under the current environment. And another thing 278 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,679 Speaker 1: is they have a second supplement which is kind of 279 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: for like a memory conditioning supplement. The way it works 280 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: is with smell flower, which is a smell flower, but 281 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: that smell actually contains different signals two different animals. So 282 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: scientists bill flow do is to fund the right signal 283 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: that talks to hardibees and then the creator supplement with 284 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: that signal. Whenever the face of this supplement to the 285 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: bees and the b's are exposure to the smell of 286 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 1: the flower they give the hardibe is a sugar syries. 287 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: Hardibis are trained to associate at the smell with the food, 288 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: so whenever the bis go out to the field, they 289 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: were just actively you know, thick that smell rather than 290 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: being dured away by wilder flowers. By doing so, it 291 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: kind of increased the efficiency of hardi peopoulation for agriculture. 292 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: This is an attempt to try to increase the population, 293 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: increase I guess be productivity. Given the current threat, can 294 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: you talk just a little bit about what that threat is, 295 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: like why do we need this. Basically, what has happened 296 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: in the past two decades under were probably unfortunately to 297 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: continue to happen, is that the global population has declined 298 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: significantly worldwide, and then that was caused by a combination 299 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: of factors like the loss of habitats and the use 300 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: of pesticides, and of course climate change. Hardi bis usually 301 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: don't do very well in cold weathers, so the extreme 302 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: code slabs could kidle of our peace. Why is it 303 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: so important now to protect these from cold weather? Why 304 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: is that a problem now when it wasn't a problem before. 305 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: We have said an increase in extreme weather events, so 306 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 1: that makes its most important for us to detection now. 307 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: China recently got hit by record low temperature in North China, 308 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: and then we have said that in other parts of 309 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: California and then other landing Europe as well. So all 310 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: of those extreme weather events well of fact the survival 311 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,919 Speaker 1: of peace. Including hartebees. You have found in reporting that 312 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 1: there is actually a correlation between a dropping honey bees 313 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: and sort of dropping pollination in deaths. So one reason 314 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: the study found that insufficient decoordination is causing about five 315 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: hundred thousand earlier's a year around the world. The way 316 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: to think about is that you know, if we don't 317 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: have peace to pollinate to the plants and we we eat, 318 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:05,400 Speaker 1: then our diet would be forced to change, and then 319 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 1: the loss of nutrition would affect our health. If all 320 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: the HARDI bias guidet for good this period for good, 321 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: humans probably wouldn't go extinct. But it's about the change 322 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: of our diet and the loss of nutrition. We need 323 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: to keep our healthy and high for on non life 324 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: and better quality of life. Our bee keepers around the 325 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: world looking at similar sorts of things to help their 326 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,879 Speaker 1: own be populations. And how big is the worldwide push 327 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: to conserve bees. I think it's a global move. Beflow 328 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: is just one company offering you know uh service to 329 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: hardibe's survival. There are also other companies like there is 330 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,360 Speaker 1: a startup in Europe that provide in high fool smartest 331 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: sensor for be capers. Basically, the idea is if there 332 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: is something out of lormal in the bee hive, the 333 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,719 Speaker 1: company will sending a neard to be capers to interfame 334 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: before it's too late. So that's another way to help 335 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: be survival in this environment. And then I know us 336 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: startup it's also developing vaccines for bees against the deadly disease. 337 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,360 Speaker 1: And I think both seeing UK and Russia that are 338 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: companies doing the so called early warning system because you know, 339 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: the pesticide distribution is a huge issue for the survival 340 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: for bees. But as a big caper, how do you 341 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,359 Speaker 1: know the farm next to you will spread pesticides. So 342 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,640 Speaker 1: there are internet companies collecting data from farmers and then 343 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: send the learned to be capers to say, hey, guys, 344 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 1: you probably want to move your heife because they're going 345 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: to spread pesticide in the next hour. Coca Lu, thanks 346 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:52,439 Speaker 1: so much for coming on the show. Thank you. You 347 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: can read more from Todd Woody and Coco Lu and 348 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: Bloomberg dot com. Thanks for listening to us here at 349 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: The Big Take. It's a daily podcast from Bloomberg and 350 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more shows from I Heart Radio, 351 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever 352 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: you listen. And we'd love to hear from you. Email 353 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: us questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg dot net. 354 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: The supervising producer of The Big Take is Vicky Burgolina. 355 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Katherine Fink. Our producer is Frederica 356 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: Roman Yellow. Our associate producer is Zenob Sidiki. Hilla Garcia 357 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: is our engineer. Our original music was composed by Leo Sidrin. 358 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: I'm Westcasova. We'll be back tomorrow with another big take.