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. 2019 Jan 24;9(1):748.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37356-2.

Behavioural and pathomorphological impacts of flash photography on benthic fishes

Maarten De Brauwer  1 , Luke M Gordon  2 , Tanika C Shalders  2 , Benjamin J Saunders  2 , Michael Archer  3 , Euan S Harvey  2 , Shaun P Collin  3 , Julian C Partridge  4 , Jennifer L McIlwain  2
Affiliations

Behavioural and pathomorphological impacts of flash photography on benthic fishes

Maarten De Brauwer et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Millions of people take animal pictures during wildlife interactions, yet the impacts of photographer behaviour and photographic flashes on animals are poorly understood. We investigated the pathomorphological and behavioural impacts of photographer behaviour and photographic flashes on 14 benthic fish species that are important for scuba diving tourism and aquarium displays. We ran a field study to test effects of photography on fish behaviour, and two laboratory studies that tested effects of photographic flashes on seahorse behaviour, and ocular and retinal anatomy. Our study showed that effects of photographic flashes are negligible and do not have stronger impacts than those caused solely by human presence. Photographic flashes did not cause changes in gross ocular and retinal anatomy of seahorses and did not alter feeding success. Physical manipulation of animals by photographing scuba divers, however, elicited strong stress responses. This study provides important new information to help develop efficient management strategies that reduce environmental impacts of wildlife tourism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Four representative species used in this study (From top left, clockwise: Antennarius striatus, Solenostomus paradoxus, Hippocampus subelongatus, Hippocampus histrix).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean number of occurrences of different reactions (±SE) of Antennariidae from the central Philippines to diver presence and flash photography. (A) Control observations. (B) Treatment observations. TP: diver presence (N = 12), T1: flash (N = 12), T2: manipulation (N = 12), T3: manipulation + flash (N = 12). Significance level of treatments compared to control after Holm-Bonferroni corrections: p < 0.05, *different to Control, adifferent to T2, bdifferent to T3.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A-t) Mean number of turning and feeding reactions (±SE) of Syngnathoidei to different treatments; (A-c) Paired control observations. TP: diver presence (N = 8), T1: flash (N = 9), T2: manipulation (N = 9), T3: manipulation + flash (N = 8). (B-t) Mean number of movement reactions (±SE) of Hippocampus spp. and Solenostomus spp. to different treatments. (B-c) Paired control observations. Hippocampus: TP (N = 5), T1 (N = 5), T2 (N = 5), T3 (N = 5). Solenostomus: C (N = 14), TP (N = 3), T1 (N = 4), T2 (N = 4), T3 (N = 3). Significance level of treatments compared to control after Holm-Bonferroni corrections: p < 0.05, *different to Control.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean time (±SE) seahorses spent doing different activities during different flash treatments. C = Control (N = 47), TL = Low frequency (N = 48), TH = High frequency (N = 46). Significance level of treatments: p adifferent to TL.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Seahorse ventilation rates (±SE) during different flash treatments. C = Control (N = 47), TL = Low frequency (N = 48), TH = High frequency (N = 46). Significance level of treatments: p adifferent to TL.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Treatment tank setup: two 17L tanks separated by a black cloth, a holdfast consisting of artificial seagrass in the middle of each tank, a Sea&Sea YS-250PRO underwater strobe placed against each tank. A video camera was placed in front of both tanks and a black cloth was hung around the tanks.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Retinal morphology characteristics measured on the eyes of Hippocampus subelongatus. (from top left, clockwise: Eye in situ prior to enucleation; Retina at x4 magnification; Fovea at x10 magnification; Retina at x100 magnification). Variables: (1) Retinal thickness, (2) Photoreceptor length, (3) Inner plexiform thickness, (4) Inner nuclear layer thickness, (5) Retinal ganglion cell layer thickness, (6) Outer nuclear layer thickness, (7) Perifoveal retinal thickness, (8) Cone photoreceptor inner segment width, (9) Rod inner segment width, (10) Rod outer segment width.
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