Turns out it's not just cats that love chasing laser pointers.
NIWA scientists working in the Marlborough Sounds were surprised to discovered blue cod also fancy a bit of moving lights action on the ocean floor.
The finding emerged when researchers were using lasers attached to underwater cameras to measure fish size and number.
NIWA marine ecology technician Charlotte Bodie said they noticed something unusual when analysing the video footage.
"When trying to count and measure the blue cod, we saw that they were chasing our lasers, just like cats do! I have trudged through a lot of underwater footage in my time, but never seen something like this. No other species seemed to be doing it.
"It certainly broke up the monotony of the work. We do a lot of video analysis and see plenty of interesting and unique fish behaviours, but unfortunately don’t have time to investigate everything," Charlotte said.
NIWA marine ecology technician Brooke Madden said that while the behaviour started as a nuisance, it was quite useful.
"It made it hard for us to count blue cod as they tended to aggregate and follow the lasers. But it also meant we could measure the fish more accurately because they swam closer to the lasers," Brooke said.
The team have yet to decode why the cod were acting like this.
"They are very inquisitive fish with large lateral eyes that can rotate independently, allowing them to see almost anywhere around them. Finding out why they chase the lasers like cats could make a great project one day," said Charlotte.
