Learning about animals and nature is an important part of a well-rounded academic curriculum. The Internet has made it easier than ever for practically everyone on earth to learn many facts about practically any animal on earth. One of the best examples of how technology is helping the studies of animal life is the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker. Available by both a website and an app, OCEARCH allows viewers to see where many sharks are in various parts of the world.
For anyone who is interested in marine life (specifically sharks) then the Ocean Globe Shark Tracker by OCEARCH will prove to be extremely interesting. OCEARCH’s Global Shark Tracker allows those who engage the program to observe the navigational patterns of sharks. All the monitored sharks have been tagged with satellite tracked technology that was implanted for the purposes of shark conservation. The virtual maps that track the sharks also clearly illustrate just how far the creatures are able to travel in a relatively short period of time.
The OCEARCH website is filled with frequently updated blogs, photos, and even videos of how the sharks are caught, tagged, and then released and monitored. One look at the lengthy travel path of the sharks on the site (mainly on American and South African coasts) is both shocking and impressive. In order to individualize each monitored shark, the researchers give everyone a name. For example, a shark known as “Mary Lee” is named after a researcher’s mother since she was always supportive of her son’s career path. Via tabs on the website, visitors are easily able to locate whichever sharks they are tracking and find out where they are located on a day to day basis.
The OCEARCH website is addictive and it will hold particular interest for anyone who aspires to become a marine biologist, specifically one that specializes in sharks. Projects like this prove that technology can truly help purely naturalistic causes such as conserving a species as well as raising public interest—and subsequently overall awareness—of what sharks do for the ecosystem and why they must be preserved. For zoology students in the making to those who find leisurely interest in nature and technology this is certainly a cause worth looking into.
I give the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker 5/5 stars and suggest that everyone take a look at the OCEARCH website. For more information visit: http://sharks-ocearch.verite.com/
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