For years, scientific divers at a research station in the Mediterranean Sea had a problem: at some point in every field season, local fish would follow them and steal food intended as experimental rewards.

Scientists perplexed to see wild fish recognise specific humans: ‘It was like they were studying us’ - Fish may use visual cues to identify specific humans even when faces are covered

With more time, the fish may learn to pay attention to more subtle human features, such as hands or hair. According to the team, observing that wild fish can quickly learn to use specific cues to recognize an individual human diver provides more evidence that other fish species can recognize certain patterns to identify us.