The increased Efficiency of Fish Swimming in a School, a New Computational Model

Abstract

Abstract-In a computational model of hydrodynamics based on the Multiple Collision Dynamics modelling technique, we investigate hydrodynamic advantages of fish swimming in an infinite school. We show that the average Froude efficiency of individuals swimming in a school is higher than of individuals swimming solitarily for each of four spatial configurations (line, phalanx, rectangular and diamond-shaped). These benefits may emerge from several kinds of interactions among wakes and individuals.