Tracking the Motion:
How scientists study animal
movements
Have you ever wished that you could
find an animal wherever it went in
the world?
What animal would you want to
track?
Maybe your dog?
Maybe your cat?
Maybe your brother or sister?
The world is a big place!
How could we figure out how something
moves around such a huge place?
We can do this using some of my satellite friends!
Several satellites are made so that they can help track
birds and other animals around the world.
But how do they do this?
Here’s how: scientists have given these animals their
own special radios that can send signals to satellites!
Here’s the beluga whale, an animal
that has been tracked by satellites.
A pod of beluga
whales
A beluga whale with a radio fastened
to its back
Scientists take good care to make sure that the radios
don’t hurt the animals.
Here’s Sir Syd the tundra swan,
another animal that has been tracked
by satellites.
Sir Syd
Swans with tracking radios
These little radios send, or transmit, signals to
satellites orbiting the Earth. The satellites then
send these signals to a scientist’s computer. That
way, the time and location of a signal can be tracked
anywhere around the world!
Let’s pretend that I was helping a scientist who was at the
red “x” to track Sir Syd living at the green “x”.
x
x
See the next slide to
see how we’d do it!
Let’s pretend that I was helping a scientist who was at the
red “x” to track Sir Syd living at the green “x”.
x
x
First, I’d listen for the
special signal from Sir
Syd’s radio telling me
where he is located.
See the green dashed
line? That’s it!
Let’s pretend that I was helping a scientist who was at the
red “x” to track a swan living at the green “x”.
So now I have the
swan’s signal.
x
x
Next, I send a new
signal of Sir Syd’s
location to the
scientist’s computer.
That’s the red dashed
line! Do you see it?
Now, what happens once the signal gets to the red “x”?
The scientist can put
the information that
she gets from the signal
on a map, to show where
Sir Syd is located!
Here’s what the map
might look like:
x
x
Let’s take a closer look at that map. See all of the different
dates next to the dots? That’s where Sir Syd was located!
Connecting
those dots
helps us
track Sir
Syd’s flight.
Maps like these give us new information about how amazing animals really are. We can
use these data to protect habitat where these animals migrate, nest, and winter. All
with the help of a few satellites like me.
See you soon,
Sir Syd the
Tundra Swan!!
Honk honk!
See you soon,
Pixel!
Credits
Dr. Scott Petrie
Long Point Waterfowl
& Wetlands Research
Fund
NOAA
NASA