Question

Sarah is studying a population of fish in a pond. She captures and tags 30 fish and releases them back into the pond. Later, she captures 180 fish, 15 of which are tagged. What is the most reasonable estimate for the fish population in the pond?

Answer 1

Using the mark and recapture method, Sarah estimated the fish population in the pond to be 360 individuals by capturing and tagging 30 fish, then recapturing 180 fish with 15 tags observed.

Step-by-step explanation:

Sarah is studying a population of fish in a pond and uses the mark and recapture method to estimate the fish population. She first captures, tags, and releases 30 fish. Upon recapturing 180 fish later, she finds that 15 of them are tagged. Using the mark-recapture method, the estimation of the total population (N) is calculated by the formula:
(Number of marked first capture × Total number of second capture) / Number of recaptured marked = Population estimate
(30 × 180) / 15 = 360

Therefore, the most reasonable estimate for the total population of fish in the pond would be 360 individuals. It is important to note that there are certain limitations to this method.