Editing EcoSCOPE (section)

==Specifications==
The ecoSCOPE is a product of the new initiative of "Ocean Online Biosensors": a synthesis of IT-sensoric and the sensing capability of ocean organisms.

[[Image:Ecoscopeu.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The twelve exits on the sides and the entrance in the middle, in front of a CD for comparison]]
Depicted in the image on the right is the central unit. On all four corners are small entrances, through which water from different sources enters (in this case, rivers and creeks in [[New Jersey]]).  It flows through a small [[labyrinth]] and mixes in the central chamber. It exits through a small tube in the middle. The glasseels migrate through this small tube heading into the current. In the middle is the entrance for the eels. They test the different water qualities and migrate toward the corner, where they exit.
[[Image:ECORAN32.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Detail of the mixing chamber - Closeup on the migrating glasseels. Visible through the transparent skin are the gills and the heart]]
It is the opinion of many scientists that [[eel]]s have developed the finest [[nose]] on the planet. They can sense [[concentration]]s of one part in 19 [[1000000000000 (number)|trillion]]. This is the same concentration as one glass of alcohol in the waters of all America's [[Great Lakes]]. For the eels the sensory impressions are probably as diverse as the colors visible for us.

The system is submerged, and a digital camera observes the exits. The dynIMAGE software monitors the frequency of decisions per exit. Many thousand of glasseels pass through the system on a single day. The three exits in the left lower corner carry water from polluted sources (one is a drinking water reservoir).

EcoSCOPE systems have already been tracking [[water pollution]] and its effect on fish and plankton behavior in [[Europe]] and the United States). For the future it is anticipated to deploy ecoSCOPEs continuously online, within the project [[Longterm Ecological Observatory|LEO]] Projekt off [[New York City]], visible for the public. Tests have also been performed with different qualities of drinking water and with solutions of runoff juice from different samples of [[fish]].

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Image:Aureliaauritakils3.jpg|''In situ'' image of the fibres of an [[Aurelia aurita]] from the [[Baltic Sea]] showing a prey item, probably a copepod pulled to the body by contracting the fibres in a corkscrew fashion.
Image:Clupeaharenguslarvaeinsitukils.jpg|Very young larvae of [[Atlantic herring]] in the typical oblique swimming position - the animal in the upper right in the classical S-shape of the beginning phase of an attack of probably a [[copepod]] - the remains of the [[yolk]] is very well visible in the transparent animal in the middle
Image:rostrataluk.jpg|Glasseel on the online ''in situ'' microscope at the [[Longterm Ecological Observatory|LEO]] project.
Image:Glasseelkils.gif|Glasseel at the transition from ocean to freshwater; the freshwater flows from the left to the right. Glasseels are extremely difficult to image because they are transparent; see [[eel life history]]. 
</gallery>