Fish Doorbell Lets Anyone Around The World Unlock The Door For Finned Friends
Video screenshot via Visdeurbel
Imagine a world where fish can buzz you to get into their underwater home. Well, sort of. This isn’t Bikini Bottom, but the waterways of Utrecht, Netherlands, where a unique solution has been making a splash—the fish doorbell.
Rather than letting finned friends into a residence, this ingenious invention helps them navigate a manmade obstacle called the Weerdsluis lock. Each spring, fish swim upstream through Utrecht’s canals in search of spawning grounds. However, the Weerdsluis lock, which infrequently opens during this crucial migration period, creates a bottleneck.
As nobody’s usually at home, the authorities— the Municipality of Utrecht, Waterboard De Stichtse Rijnlanden and Water Authority Amstel, Gooi and Vecht—built Visdeurbel, or the fish doorbell, inviting the world to let aquatic hitchhikers pass through via a live-streaming camera submerged near the lock.
Me and the gang hanging out at the Utrecht Fish Doorbell pic.twitter.com/zJHoKqsdTN
— Marc(us Flavius Aquila) - Comms Open (@ElegantFeather) March 17, 2024
Viewers online who spot fish waiting to enter can virtually “ring” the doorbell, which notifies a lock operator who will assess the situation and open the lock if there is indeed somebody with gills at the door.
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The fish doorbell has become an unexpected internet sensation. Since launching in 2021, it has garnered millions of views, with people from all over the world lending the determined swimmers a helping hand.
By reducing waiting times, the invention will also help migrating fish avoid predators and reach their spawning grounds more efficiently. It’s a win-win, or should we say, ring-ring, for all!
[via PetaPixel, Dutch News, NL Times, images via Visdeurbel]
