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Mobile Phones for Geese and Seals

Posted by timothy on from the roaming-charges-apply dept.

prostoalex writes: "BBC News has two related articles about mobile phones and messaging being introduced to the animal world. The stories, aptly named Geese 'phone' home and Seals 'phone' home (kudos from this-title-is-so-original dept.) talk about 'tagged' animals that report about their location via the cellular systems. And if seal tracking is available only to the scientists in the field, following the geese online is open to anyone who contributes .75 British pounds to the research project."

18 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. You think the technology is impressive.... by quintessent · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just imagine the work required to teach geese to dial the right number.

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    1. Re:You think the technology is impressive.... by saveth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You think the technology is impressive.... Just imagine the work required to teach geese to dial the right number.

      At least a goose's beak becomes narrow enough to tap one button on the phone at a time. Think of the seals! How is a seal going to dial?! :)

      Hmm. Voice dial?

  2. What about the penguins! by Caractacus+Potts · · Score: 4, Funny


    I'll contribute 50 pounds if they include penguins in the program. Think of the publicity we'd get with a wired mascot! Oh, how about another 100 if they include a gnu.

  3. phone bills by cdf12345 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I bet those roaming charges are going to suck!

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  4. Hunting goes techno by vrassoc · · Score: 2, Funny
    Technology really is amazing. No more phoney decoys; no more phoney animal sound immitations. Just take your cell phone with you on the hunt, dial 08000-GOOSE and listen for the ring ... aim .... FIRE!!!!

    1. Re:Hunting goes techno by Ooblek · · Score: 2

      No, you mount your rifle on a GPS controlled tripod. It should come with one of those remote fire button jobs. Everyone sits back and drinks beer, then presses the button when the tripod starts tracking an object. Now thats a vacation.

  5. WWT website by Chris_Keene · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The BBC link to this page, which provides some more maps of the birds progress.

    All the birds take the same route from Iceland to Greenland, even though they took the journey at different times. On the 4th of June Arnthor was well ahead of the pack (okay okay so it's not a race but), but by the 10th of June, it was clear he/she had decided to have a few days break on the edge of Greenland while Hugh and Kerry had a few days break. Also intresting is that these two birds both arrived on the same island, and it looks like they arrived at the same time, but at opposite ends of the island.

    This could be a new sport, taking bets on which bird gets to Canada first - with daily web updates. More exciting than the football.

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  6. Geese poop 3 pounds a day by ObviousGuy · · Score: 2, Funny

    following the geese online is open to anyone who contributes .75 pounds to the research project.

    Pounds of what?

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  7. We (canajens eh!) hate geeses to peeces by Quirk · · Score: 2, Funny

    DateLine: circa 1942, the northern most tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. At a top secret location a specially trained cadre of experts carefully sweep the NorthWest Pacific skies for signs of the awaited Japanese invasion. Their cutting edge technology: RADAR. Early one morning the first wave of Zeros shows on the RADAR screen and the word is sent out: the invasion has begun... well almost... that was until the first wave of Zeros showed itself to be a flock of Canadian Geese. Now we can just call their service and check their flight plans.

    A log cabin remains, with a plaque commemorating the brave souls who spent the war, huddled over bleeding edge technology muttering... airplane?...goose?
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  8. Does this have anything to do ... by vrassoc · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...with the sticker on my cell phone that says Warranty void if seal is broken???

  9. CritterCam is pretty neat... by australopithecus · · Score: 2, Offtopic
    ok, so its slightly OT, but along the same lines:


    Some guy at National Geographic has been attaching camcorders he calls CritterCams to the backs of sea turtles, sharks, and other shit that swims around in hard to reach places (no comment).

    You cant track them online, but it would make for one trippy-as-hell video to project on a wall at a party.
    peace***
  10. This sounds like a hunters dream by gopher_hunt · · Score: 2, Funny

    For .75 pounds, no more sitting around, waiting and getting liquored up while bird hunting

  11. What about poachers "hacking" the system? by psoriac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Has any thought been given to how difficult it would be for poachers to "hack" this system and use it to track the seals for their own goals, which are usually exactly opposite those of the researchers?

    Imagine if the poachers could simply trigger the SMS system and then triangulate on the position of the largest closest herd of seals.

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  12. �75 a year by barnaclebarnes · · Score: 2
    From the article:

    The sponsorship, which costs £75 a year, is the latest conservation scheme tied to mobile phones.

    Thats 75 pounds not .75 (as in 75 pence) as the /. story states. Not sure if i'm willing to put up quite that much. maybe a fiver....

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  13. Only the seals are using mobile phone tech by ukryule · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The technical info about the Seals is available here. To quote:

    The study will be split into two phases. In phase one, simple mobile phone tags will regularly send text messages from grey seal pups to computers at the University, allowing scientists to examine which factors affect their survival through their first year. In phase two, GPS (Global Positioning System) and depth sensors will be added, allowing, through GPRS, (General Packet Radio Service) massive volumes of detailed track and dive behaviour to be sent ashore.


    However, the Geese are actually using a satellite tracking system (as described in not much detail here). The text message bit is just an advertising thing that the WWT will send you an SMS when they get data - which is nothing new technically.

    I'd be interested in the battery requirements for both of them though - I've got this image in my head of a seal trying to wind up a charger ...
  14. Re:...this shows the big gap between US and Europe by jukal · · Score: 2

    *gruntle* dear metamoderator, please indicate how my reply was offtopic and how you are not just embarrassed about US CDMA voyages and resulting mobile periphery. Anyway, the only good reason to track geese, is to know where to go and shoot them.

  15. Getting the tag numbers off live Canadian Geese by mikosullivan · · Score: 2

    My wife Starflower and I once actually succeeded in reading the tag numbers off a pair of live, conscious Canadian Geese. Believe me, it wasn't easy. We discovered that Canadian Geese are a lot like programmers: they can be bribed with food. The father goose was easy... he wanted the food and was willing to get close. Mother goose was harder: she was more wary of us, and to make matters worse, her tag was upside down. Her tactic worked: she got a lot more food.

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    Miko O'Sullivan
  16. Are these tags status symbols? by Sabalon · · Score: 2

    I always wondered how the tagged animals look at and are looked upon by the other animals?

    Is it a "Ha ha...you got your ass tagged" or a "wow...that's so cool that you were selected" kinda mentality.