Whales, Seals Used As Ocean Reporters

WHALES AHOY

Tokyo (UPI) Sep 05, 2005
A Japanese university has begun attaching cameras and sensors to seals and whales as part of an investigation of the ocean environment.

Since male elephant seals swim up to about 1,800 miles looking for food and whales dive to depths of about 3,200 feet, the experiment is expected to provide a significant amount of data on ocean pollution and facilitate understanding of marine ecosystems, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Monday.

The University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute says the use of migratory marine animals that cover a wide area should dramatically increase the amount of data.

At present, researchers are operating sensors attached to elephant seals breeding off the coast of California, blue whales living in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and sperm whales that appear in the seas near Japan.

The smallest sensor is about the size of a crayon, measuring about 2 inches in length and weighing 1 ounce. It takes measurements every few seconds of the water temperature and depth, amount of light in the water, the ocean currents and amounts of zooplankton in the area.

Cameras attached to the sea creatures snap photographs about every 30 seconds. Their location is recorded using the Global Positioning System.

WHALES AHOY

FSU Scientist Warns North Atlantic Right Whale Facing Extinction

Tallahassee FL (SPX) Jul 25, 2005
The North Atlantic right whale's future looks grim if the current mortality rates continue, according to Florida State University assistant professor of oceanography Douglas Nowacek and a group of fellow scientists from across the nation.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Russia, Canada To Use Space Technologies For Rescue In Arctic Mortuary Teams Start New Orleans House-To-House Search For Bodies Bush: Government Doing Its Best On Katrina New Hope For New Orleans As Breached Levee Closed	CLIMATE SCIENCE Lethal Needle Blight Epidemic May Be Related To Climate Change Lethal Needle Blight Epidemic May Be Related To Climate Change Meteor Dust Could Affect Climate, Study Suggests WHRC Scientists Creating National Biomass And Carbon Dataset
EARTH OBSERVATION Orbimage Releases New Satellite Images of Katrina Aftermath Over the Gulfcoast CryoSat Flight Control Team In Intensive Training CryoSat Arrives Safely At Plesetsk Launch Site, In Russia Space Sensors Show Massive Surge In Chinese Air Pollution	ENERGY TECH EU To Give China Clean-Burning Coal Station To Fight Climate Change AEA Technology To Supply Lithium-Ion Battery For NASA Solar Science Spacecraft Fuel Cells Might Get Hydrogen From Water, Organic Material It's Electric: Cows Show Promise As Powerplants
EPIDEMICS Unusual Antibiotics Show Promise Against Deadly Superbugs Novel Plague Virulence Factor Identified The Web: 'Net Slowing Spread Of HIV Bird Samples From Mongolia Confirmed As H5N1 Avian Flu	FLORA AND FAUNA Conference On Saving World's Great Apes Opens In DR Congo Deep-Sea Exploration Beneath Katrina's Wake Aquatic Life Dying In Gulf Mystery In Iran, Camera Traps Reveal Rare Asiatic Cheetahs
FROTH AND BUBBLE Innovative Singapore Turns Garbage Island Into Eco-Tourism Attraction Malaysia To Act Against Haze-Causing Plantations Malaysia To Start Cloud Seeding In Indonesia: Minister Indonesia Says Eight Out Of 10 Firms Responsible For Haze Are Malaysian	ABOUT US Parts Of Brain Battle Over Decisions New Techniques Study The Brain's Chemistry, Neuron By Neuron Virginia Tech Research, Graduate Program Focus On Interfaces Microscopic Brain Imaging In The Palm Of Your Hand

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement