Hong Kong researchers are set to rock the boats of fishermen who use dynamite to catch fish, with an underwater microphone that can point law enforcers in the direction of the bombers.
The so-called 'hydrophone' has been developed by researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and successfully tested in waters off Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Agence France-Presse reported last week.
George Woodman, team leader and head of science at Li Po Chun United World College, said the project was eight years in the making. His interest had been sparked by an incident in 1994, in which he and a friend were within close range of a fisherman using explosives to stun fish.
'I was diving with a friend involved in a reef survey in Malaysia in 1994 when we heard a blast and got shaken around,' he said.
The practice is illegal, but employed in both small-scale and industrial fishing operations in many parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
'The scale of the problem is not that well known, but using explosives for fishing is very damaging,' Dr Woodman said. 'One or two bombs won't do much, but repeated bombing destroys the structure of a coral reef.'
The newly developed hydrophone, which Dr Woodman described as a distant 'cousin' of technology previously employed by the military, can detect the sound of a blast underwater and point to its source, making the task of law enforcers much easier.