GPS-Equipped Critters Map Sea
By
Bob Brewin
I consider GPS, along with the Internet, the Defense Department's two greatest gifts to the planet, and I continue to be amazed at the uses folks way outside Defense find for it. That includes a <a href=http://www.wcs.org/new-and-noteworthy/new-atlas-of-the-patagonian-sea.aspx>project</a> by the Wildlife Conservation Society to map South America's Patagonian Sea.
I consider GPS, along with the Internet, the Defense Department's two greatest gifts to the planet, and I continue to be amazed at the uses folks way outside Defense find for it. That includes a project by the Wildlife Conservation Society to map South America's Patagonian Sea.
The wildlife group, working in cooperation with the conversation group Birdlife International, fitted seals, penguins and albatrosses with GPS collars, which took location readings as they roamed the Patagonian Sea, which runs from Brazil to the tip of South America.
The GPS-packing critters uplinked more than 280,000 data points during a 10-year period, all of which were used to create The Atlas of the Patagonian Sea: Species and Spaces, which was published last week.
Dr. Claudio Campagna, who runs the Wildlife Conservation Society's Sea and Sky project, said the atlas was essentially written by the animals that live in the sea and will be used to develop conservation policies that will ensure their survival.
I just love doing heartwarming GPS stories.
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