Tagging

Satellite Tracking Workshop
Goa, India - April 30th 2010

Organized by Catherine McClellan, Tony Tucker and Larisa Avens.

The 2010 International Sea Turtle Symposium hosted its first workshop dedicated to satellite telemetry at the Taj Vivanta Hotel in Goa, India. A total of 91 participants from 28 countries attended the 3.5 hr event held on April 30th, 2010. The goal of the workshop was to provide basic information about satellite telemetry techniques for new users, update current users with the latest advances in the field, and to provide a forum that would engender free exchange of ideas, promote collaboration, and ultimately foster successful satellite tracking studies of sea turtles around the world.

The workshop featured 3 sessions: (1) a technology primer from the satellite tracking industry including some of the latest advances in the field, (2) a few thoughts about applications and expectations of satellite tracking studies from the perspective of sea turtle researchers including ethics, attachment methods, and data resolution, and (3) a demonstration of the Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (seaturtle.org) including mapping, archiving, analysis, and outreach utilities. Each session was followed by a short discussion period where participants could ask questions of a guest panel with expertise from around the world or offer comments on their own experiences. The opening session consisted of presentations from CLS Argos (USA & France), Telonics (USA), Sirtrack (NZ), and Wildlife Computers (USA). The second session presenters and panellists were biologists from private, governmental and academic institutions based in the USA, UK, and AU. The final session was a presentation from the non-profit organization seaturtle.org.

Satellite telemetry is a powerful technique for tracking the movements of animals in the wild. It has revolutionized our understanding of how highly migratory marine species like sea turtles traverse oceans and has allowed us to remotely explore their depths. Technology continues to advance the field and open doors for research opportunities and capturing the attention of the public. With their compliments, the workshop panellists have provided the following presentations as a resource for all those interested in the workshop, whether or not they could attend. We hope they serve you well.

Agenda
Titles below are linked to a PDF of each presentation

CLS Argos, Doppler, Starting a Program and IDs, Developments
Debbie Stakem - CLS

A New Geolocation Algorithm for Argos Data
Remy Lopez, François Royer, Jean-Pierre Malarde & Philippe Gaspar - CLS

Basic Location Tags
Stan Tomkiewicz - Telonics

GPS/FAstloc Tags
Kevin Lay - Sirtrack

Sensor Tags, Dive Data, Pop-off
Melinda Holland - Wildlife Computers

Tagging Ethics and Smart Questions
Matthew Godfrey - North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

Attachment Methods
Kate Mansfield - NOAA - National Marine Fisheries Service

Performance Expectations (Argos & GPS)
Matthew Witt - University of Exeter

Satellite Telemetry Analysis Tool
Michael Coyne - seaturtle.org