AbstractVisual and Acoustic Tracking of Marine Mammals in Real TimeTrack: Ecology and Conservation Author The Whale Identification, Logging and Display (WILD) software system was developed to assist researchers tracking marine mammals in real time. The WILD system was used successfully on the MED 09 sea trial in July-September 2009 aboard the NATO Research Vessel Alliance. Visual observations and acoustic observations from a range of devices were displayed in real time in multiple locations of the ship. All observations were transmitted over the ship's network using custom data sentences developed by the researchers based on the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) 183 standard. The custom software extended ArcMap by allowing it to read and parse these sentences and update the maps in real time. This allowed scientists, biologists, and the ship's crew to tightly coordinate their efforts, permitting the best possible data collection and observation of the animals. The research provides scientists with better estimates whale populations and their behavior in the Western Mediterranean Sea. CHRISTOPHER KYBURG SSC Pacific 53475 STROTHE RD SAN DIEGO, California 92152 United States Phone: 619-850-0466 E-mail: KYBURG@SPAWAR.NAVY.MIL Rowena Carlson SSC Pacific 53475 Strothe Rd. San Diego, California 92152 United States Phone: 619 553-2505 E-mail: rowena.carlson@navy.mil Angela D'Amico SSC Pacific SSC Pacific 53475 Strothe Rd San Diego, California 92152 United States Phone: 619 553 1794 E-mail: damico@spawar.navy.mil |