All at sea with animal tracks and dead-reckoning solutions for the resolution of movement

WILSON, R.P.; LIEBSCH, N.; LUCKE, K.; STORCH, S.; SIEBERT, U.; ZANKL, S.; MÜLLER, G.; QUINTANA, F.; CAMPAGNA, C.; PLÖTZ, J.; BORNEMANN, H.

St. Andrews, Escocia, UK

Simposio; II International Bio-logging Science Symposium; 2005

Determination of the movement of marine animals is logistically difficult and is currently primarily based on VHF and satellite-tracking telemetry, GPS, acoustic telemetry and geolocation, all of which have substantial limitations. A further, recent development, that of dead-reckoning, is being increasingly used to examine the fine-scale movement of animals underwater. The advantages and drawbacks of this approach are quite different to those incurred by the other methods. This paper considers the advances that dead-reckoning can bring to the study of marine animal movement and behaviour. Methods used in dead reckoning are presented and consideration is given to results derived from the use of dead reckoning on turtles, cetacea, seals, sea lions, and penguins. Suggestions are made as to how movement data derived from dead-reckoners can be analysed using indices that allow interpretation over a large variety of temporal and spatial scales.