Habitat Mapping

The following lesson is an introduction to the ideas and implications of animal tracking. Animal tracking is a useful method used within science and commercial industries. For instance, when planning the development coastal areas, animal presence and movement should be taken into consideration. The lesson engages students in an activity to monitor animal foraging behavior on a spatial scale. The students will break into groups and track each other's movements as they move through a pre-determined course. The results will be recorded both individually and collaboratively in an attempt to understand animal movement regarding foraging behavior. Students will also engage in a creative design activity, focusing on how they would design a tag for a marine animal of their choice. In conclusion, instructors will query the class on data interpretation and how spatial information is important in relation to commercial, conservation, and scientific research decisions.

The creative design activity provides students the opportunity to think like engineers in developing a remote sensing tag for a marine animal of their choice. Marine animals Tagging Animal Tracking GIS Technology design Knowledge from previous lesson will aid students in understanding animal tracking. To be able to explain how animal habitats are mapped in the marine environment. To be able to identify current technologies employed in mapping resources. To collect, interpret, and apply data related to the mapping of a marine habitat. To gain skills in designing research technology, specifically tag design. Research in marine science is more complex than terrestrial research. Limitations of humans to explore underwater have traditionally made it difficult to study animals, habitats, and their interactions. Current technological innovations are allowing scientists to further understand and apply information about animal locations and habitat. Scientists are tagging bluefin tuna, sharks, turtles, molas (sunfish), seals, cetaceans, albatross, squid, and other fish to understand the animal's movement and interaction with its habitat through mapping. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allows for management and viewing of spatial relationships/mapping. In this lesson, teachers will explain why habitat mapping is important and inform students that they will have the opportunity to map each other's movements after this lesson. In addition, technologies used to track animals will be discussed. During the discussion, teachers should provide pictures of the various tracking equipment. Concepts of animal mapping/tracking in the marine environment. Current technologies employed in mapping resources. Process of data collection, interpretation, and application. Designing research technology. There are many implications of understanding animal tracking. Such information can be used for commercial, conservation, and scientific research. Economically, animal tracking data is used by fishing and ecotourism industries as means to locate marine organisms. Conservation organizations also rely on tracking data to determine animal spatial movements thus influencing locations of urban development. Tracking data is frequently collected by researchers to gain knowledge of animal behavior such as migration between foraging, breeding, and nursery grounds. Tagging Scientists can learn a lot by tagging marine animals! Tagging animals provides information on their population size, migration patterns, and favorite habitats. A variety of tagging methods are available. Satellite Tagging Satellite tags are small tags attached to marine animals in order to study their movement and migration patterns. Satellite tags are generally used to study larger animals, such as marine mammals, tunas and sharks. A satellite tag, which can fit in your hand, relays signals through satellites. This data is obtained by data systems on the ground. Battery life determines the quantity and quality of data received from the tag. Battery life decreases with each data transmission. Information relayed includes time, date, latitude, longitude, dive depths, dive durations, and surface times. Two types of tags exist. The pop-up satellite archival tag transmits all the data at one time, when the battery dies. The other type of satellite tag collects data while the animal is underwater and then transmits this data by antennae when it surfaces. Satellite tags can last from a few days to many months. Satellite tagging provides crucial information at a high cost; one tag can cost around $3500. WhaleNet uses satellite transmitters that send signals to satellites maintained by the ARGOS (Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite) System in Largo, Maryland and Talouse, France. A number of the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) weather satellites, circling the earth, have instruments attached. These instruments collect, process and disseminate environmental data relayed from fixed and mobile transmitters worldwide. What makes this system unique is the ability to geographically locate the source of the data anywhere on the Earth. Archival Tags Archival tags are small tags implanted or attached to a marine animal. These tags record information such as depth, light, water temperature and internal body temperature. They can even record the heart rate and the swimming speed of some marine mammals. Archival tags are unique because they provide information about the oceanographic environment in which the animal is traveling. This information is important for determining how changing oceanic conditions relate to an animal's behavior, movement patterns and physiology. Although Archival tags provide essential information, the data can only be obtained when the tag is recovered. For this reason, scientists tend to study animals with either a predictable movement pattern or animals likely to be caught again in fisheries, such as fish and sharks. Tag-A-Giant in Carolina Scientists from Stanford and Duke University along with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and National Marine Fisheries Service have placed over 700 electronic tags in bluefin tuna in this region. The data from implantable archival tags has been critical for establishing the basic biology of Atlantic bluefin and the patterns of movements to feeding and breeding grounds. To date, tracks of up to four years have been obtained. Information is available at http://www.tunaresearch.org/tagagiant/tagagiant_index.html. Where an object or animal is located in space. The angular distance north or south of the earth's equator, measured in degrees along a meridian, as on a map or globe. Angular distance on the earth's surface, measured east or west from the prime meridian at Greenwich, England, to the meridian passing through a position, expressed in degrees (or hours), minutes, and seconds. To observe or monitor the course of (animal, for example), as by radar. Technology used to log data on a range of environmental and behavioral parameters. Map-A-Buddy Engage students in a discussion regarding knowledge on animal tracking & mapping. The instructor should be sure to ask inquiry/open-ended questions about not only how we do this, but why? Did the students gain an understanding on the importance of animal tagging, tracking, and mapping? Students will be able to define the types of tags used for animal tracking. Students will be able to discuss why tagging technologies are important for species conservation. Were the students able to draw final conclusions regarding foraging and/or migratory behavior and the collection & use of spatial data? As an added activity, have the students design a marine animal tag on a sheet of paper. The student should explain what type of technology is needed for the tag based on the environment. In addition, the student should take into account how the tag will be attached to the animal and its possible effects. Main page for tagging of large marine pelagics - http://www.tunaresearch.org/ WhaleNet Resources http://whale.wheelock.edu/Students.html, 07/14/2004 WhaleNet Resources