Mesoscopic wave physics in fish shoals

Abstract

Ultrasound scattered by a dense shoal of fish undergoes mesoscopic interference, as is typical of low-temperature electrical transport in metals or light scattering in colloidal suspensions. Through large-scale measurements in open sea, we show a set of striking deviations from classical wave diffusion making fish shoals good candidates to study mesoscopic wave phenomena. The very good agreement with theories enlightens the role of fish structure on such a strong scattering regime that features slow energy transport and brings acoustic waves close to the Anderson localization transition.