Marine animals tracking
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Argos satellite tracking makes it possible to follow the paths of tagged animals. This tracking data is invaluable, but sometimes it raises more questions than it answers. Why is the animal making a detour – or even a loop? Does it stay here or there for feeding, or for another reason? If it turns back, could it be due to water temperature?… Over the longer term, comparing tracking data with ocean data can help biologists understand the behavior of the tracked species, and ultimately contribute to their protection.
Below, Argos tracks of one young male elephant seal followed by IMOS, are overlaid on SST (top) and Chlorophyll-A (bottom) maps.
Ocean data on ArgosWeb
Argos users can benefit from CLS’ 20 years of experience in satellite oceanographic data processing and access state-of-the-art metocean data (such as Sea surface temperature, Phytoplankton, Primary production, Surface current, Surface wind, Clouds, Ice Cover and Sea Level Anomaly) directly via the ArgosWeb interface. For more information, or to subscribe to the METOC service, contact your user office.
Some interesting studies combining Argos & ocean data
Please find a selection of articles from the web featuring combined ocean data and animal tracking studies:
Aviso Image of the Month, Feb. 2019: Sharks in eddies and meanders
Aviso Image of the Month, Jul. 2016: Elephant seals and macaroni penguins follow threads
Aviso Image of the Month, Dec. 2015: Multi-year penguin tracking
DUACS web site applications: Elephant seals turn around eddies
Argonautica case studies: Loggerhead turtles Bambi and Antioche
Aviso Image of the Month, June 2010: Penguins at large
Aviso Image of the Month, Sep. 2009: Birds track ocean eddies
Aviso Image of the Month, Mar. 2006: A long way to paddle home for a green turtle
Aviso Image of the Month, Jul. 2004: Leartherback turtles round eddies
03.08.2020 Animal tracking applications Tracking bottlenose dolphins by night in narrow channels
Dolphins do have a nightlife, but visual observation techniques cannot fully capture this. Also, coastal populations of dolphins sometimes occupy complex, labyrinthine habitats. Here too line-of-sight techniques fall short. Satellite telemetry doesn’t distinguish between night and day, and, as we will see, can track animals through an aquatic…
20.07.2020 Animal tracking applications Red-throated divers move away from offshore wind farms
Argos can help in evaluating overlaps of human activities and protected aquatic bird habitats. With that information, the planning of new infrastructures such as offshore wind farms can take species like the red-throated divers in consideration. Photo: A red-throated diver with an Argos Tag (Credit Claudia Burger) Wind farms…
10.07.2020 Animal tracking applications Sea turtle ecology: a novel solution to increase knowledge using Argos
An essential part of animal conservation is knowing and understanding their behavior. More than 500 turtles are tracked every month with Argos so that scientists can identify feeding and nesting areas as well as understand their migratory patterns. We know where sea turtles go…
06.07.2020 Animal tracking applications Data collected from animals can help ocean observing systems
Data collected on animals by Argos satellite telemetry can be provided to physical oceanography, to fill in a number of gaps in the ocean observing systems. A study details how animal-born instrumentation can complement the Argo automated profiling float array. Photo: Loggerhead turtle equipped with a satellite tag. Source: Miquel…
22.06.2020 Animal tracking applications Argos helps in assessing fisheries bycatch risks to seabirds
After more than thirty years of Argos satellite telemetry, the extensive datasets that have accumulated can be used in diverse, large-scale studies. Incidental mortality (bycatch) in fisheries threatens Southern Ocean seabirds such as albatrosses and petrels. Data from the Argos system can be combined with other tracking data for comprehensive…
08.06.2020 Animal tracking applications Basking sharks’ long journeys between Brittany and Cape Verde
Basking sharks can travel several thousand kilometers in a few months, as was discovered by monitoring their movements with Argos satellite tracking tags. Two basking sharks, in particular, nicknamed Anna and Marie B made impressively long journeys between Brittany and Cape Verde. Photo: Marie B with a tag (© Y.
04.06.2020 Animal tracking applications Seals tracked by Argos prove great migrators
Did you know that seals are able to learn the melody of the Star Wars theme? Or that scientific studies based on Argos tracking data have confirmed they are great migrators? The grey seal, long hunted for its fur, still holds lots of surprises. We met Cécile Vincent,…
29.05.2020 Oceanography and meteorological applications How does EUMETSAT measure ocean temperature?
The ocean is the world’s first heat concentrator. Measuring the temperature of our oceans is one of the key indicators of global warming. EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), the European Space Weather Agency, renews its confidence in CLS by extending…
25.05.2020 Animal tracking applications Conservation priority areas for the Andean condor
Satellite telemetry enables to identify preferred habitats of the Andean condor, depending on their functions. Conservation priority areas for this scavenger bird can thus be better determined. Photo: An Andean condor with an Argos GPS PTT (credit Gonzalo O. Ignazi) The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is emblematic of the region…
11.05.2020 Animal tracking applications Distribution of baleen whales in the mid-North Atlantic Ocean
Baleen whales are highly migratory, going from low latitude in Winter to high-latitude waters in Summer. Satellite telemetry such as Argos has improved the knowledge of their distribution and movements. Using SEAPODYM ecosystem model enables to complement the telemetry and determine the effect of environmental conditions…
27.04.2020 Animal tracking applications American woodcock are tracked using Argos satellite telemetry
American woodcock are tracked using Argos satellite telemetry by the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative. Those migratory birds, travel nocturnally along the Eastern and central part of North America. Their secretive behavior makes their migratory behavior largely undescribed. Thanks to satellite telemetry, their migration is now tracked continuously by the…
22.04.2020 Animal tracking applications 5 key figures for World Penguins’ Day
On April 25th, 2020, we celebrate World Penguin Day. There are 18 species of penguins worldwide, living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. From the noble Emperor penguin to the smaller, Little penguins, these aquatic birds are extremely endearing and inspiring creatures. Argos satellite tracking has made…
21.04.2020 Animal tracking applications Eels’ travel in the Atlantic tracked by Argos satellite telemetry
Eels, threatened by pollution, virus and parasites, overfishing, habitat loss and climate change have seen their population drop in the past decades. Their life and behaviour are studied to better understand the causes of this decrease. Their migration – when adults cross the Atlantic to the Sargasso Sea…
15.04.2020 Animal tracking applications Two very different destinations for two adventurous turtles
CESTM coordinates the French Eastern Atlantic Marine Turtle Network and welcomes all marine turtles found stranded or in distress drifting or as accidental by-catch along the Channel & Atlantic coasts of France (from the Spanish border to the Belgian border). 220 of the turtles thus cared for have been released…
09.04.2020 Animal tracking applications Argos helps to define a protected area for elephants in Cameroon
African elephants are under assault due primarily to the illicit ivory trade and, to a lesser extent, to habitat destruction and human incursions. Numbers are plummeting throughout most range states. Understanding elephant movement patterns, home ranges, land use patterns and corridor use are essential in developing conservation strategies.
30.03.2020 Animal tracking applications Tracking of juvenile grey-headed albatrosses
Albatrosses are iconic seabirds of the Southern Ocean. Argos satellite telemetry has greatly increased knowledge of the at-sea distribution and behaviour of adults, and contributed to initiatives aimed at reducing their bycatch in fisheries. However, much less is known about movements of juveniles and immatures, which are potentially at higher…
16.03.2020 Animal tracking applications Chinstrap penguins are spreading a long way around Antarctica
Chinstrap penguins live around Antarctica. To understand better the precise reasons why their population is slowly declining, researchers from the Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division of NOAA fitted some of them from three different breeding grounds with Argos PTT, to track them during the Austral Winter, comparing the tracks with environmental…
02.03.2020 Animal tracking applications Spoon-billed sandpipers, long-range travellers
Spoon-billed sandpiper are small shorebirds migrating long distances from Russia to the south of China, mostly along the coasts. Argos telemetry is helping to answer questions about those migrations as part of an international effort to save the species. Photo: one of the tracked bird, named EH, at Pak Thale,…
17.02.2020 Animal tracking applications Bowhead whales, auxiliary oceanographers
Bowhead whales are crossing iced regions in spring. They dive along their path and the environmental parameters are recorded and transmitted if they are equipped with Argos satellite telemetry tags. Two different tags have been tested and their records analyzed for both oceanographic and ecological studies. Photo: A bowhead…
04.02.2020 Animal tracking applications Dorcas gazelles’ seasonal patterns of activity recorded by Argos
Dorcas gazelles live North of Sahel, in Africa. In some countries they are vulnerable and reintroducing them requires assessing their ability of adaptation to a new environment. Argos transmitted activity data recorded by collars enable to better understand their modes of activities depending on the seasons. Photo Two dorcas gazelles…
22.01.2020 Animal tracking applications Olive Ridley turtles help in ocean climate forecasting
Olive Ridley sea turtles live in the tropical oceans. They dive to feed, and, as all species of sea turtles, they are threatened these days. To help in understanding and protecting them, some are tracked using Argos satellite telemetry. However, the environmental data thus collected can help other fields of…
16.01.2020 ANGELS nanosatellite ANGELS, the First French Industrial Nanosatellite, Works!
The first ARGOS satellite dedicated to environmental monitoring was launched in 1978 by NASA. Since then, this system has been at the service of the international scientific community and has enabled a better understanding of our Earth, its fauna, climate, meteorology, etc. Some scientists even say…
06.01.2020 Animal tracking applications Understanding silky shark movement patterns to avoid interactions with fisheries
Silky sharks occupy the same habitat as some marketable tuna species, thus leading to high risks of bycatch by fisheries. A NOAA study using a combination of telemetry technologies, including Argos satellite telemetry, aims to identify potential patterns in silky shark behavior in order to devise effective bycatch…
18.12.2019 ANGELS nanosatellite ANGELS, successful launch – The Argos metamorphosis is on its way
On December 18, 2019, the French Space Agency, CNES, has launched the first Argos nanosatellite, marking the beginning of a revolution in the Argos system as we know it. This nanosat is the prototype mission for Kinéis, a constellation of 25 nanosatellites with Argos…
17.12.2019 Animal tracking applications Where do European Lesser Kestrels go?
The lesser kestrel is a small falcon migrating from Europe to Africa. A study using a large dataset of tracked birds made it possible assess the differences of migration paths and African arrival points depending on their breeding regions in Europe. This can used in devising effective conservation strategies throughout…
13.12.2019 Argos news & events New, open-source access to the Argos system
Have you ever wanted to design your own Argos satellite transmitter? Now it’s possible! CLS and the Arribada Initiative are pleased to announce a new open-source reference design by Icoteq, Ltd. Used with the ARTIC R2 chipset, a low power Argos 2/3/4 single chip radio, designed during an…
06.12.2019 Animal tracking applications Better understanding of Weddell seals’ diving
Weddell seals are the most southerly breeding mammal species. They are found among other places in the Weddell Sea, but their behaviour and foraging strategies are not well-known, in an area itself largely unknown. Scientists at the Alfred Wegener Institut tracked them using Argos PTTs recording…
29.11.2019 Animal tracking applications Deep-sea crabs tracked with Argos!
Deep-sea species are scarcely known. However, a team at the University of Windsor in Canada has devised a means of tracking porcupine crabs living at 900 m depth. Pop-up archival tags programmed to release at regular intervals emitted data, collected by Argos, resulting in a better view on this species’…
19.11.2019 Animal tracking applications Studying black caimans in and out of their pond
Crocodilians are tropical wetland ecosystems’ top predators, but they are rarely studied. Black caimans, which live between Central America and the northern part of South America, saw their population drop by 90 % in the 20th century. To have a better understanding of their behavior, scientists used Argos PTTs to track…
14.10.2019 Animal tracking applications Great spotted cuckoos tracked far from the nest by Argos
Cuckoos’ most well-known characteristic is the laying of their eggs in another species’ nest taking advantage of the care provided by these foster parents (brood parasitism). But some cuckoo species, such as great spotted cuckoos, are also migratory. Advancements in Argos satellite telemetry – especially miniaturization of Argos tags –…
