Although oceans cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, the water- shrouded life of marine creatures’ remains a mystery at the dawn of the 21st century. The average person on the street doesn’t know that we are absolutely ignorant about 70 percent of this planet. Researchers are planning a worldwide effort to track the movement of sea creatures tagged with tiny electronic devices in Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean and Gulf of Mexico.
Canada, the U.S, the universities and organizations in South Africa, Australia, Japan, Spain, New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico, and Iceland Norway are the participants in the program.
Microchips will tag sea life as salmon, whales, turtles and sharks as they swim past arrays of sensors placed at critical locations in the oceans.
Peter MacKay, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs and minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, said in a statement:
will foster the development of new Canadian technology, a deeper understanding of the effects of climate change and help shape fisheries and endangered species management worldwide.
The announcement of the details of the expansion was done at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and the research was done as a joint U.S-Canada project in the North Pacific. Having 5,000 ocean receivers arranged in 60 lines worldwide, capable of tracking up to 1 million animals at the same time is the goal of the project. Tagged sea creatures will collect data from the other tagged animals encountered by them.
According to the scientists, animal movements and their behavior changes due to global warming can be easily understood with the help of tracking system. Fisheries for conservation and business can also be easily managed.
Via: Yahoo News