STARTED in 2005
186 researchers
79 species
global collaboration
What is acoustic telemetry?
Understanding movements of aquatic animals is essential for management and conservation. Acoustic telemetry is a technology that uses an acoustic transmitter and a receiver to track animal movements underwater. A transmitter (commonly referred to as a tag) is externally attached to or surgically inserted within an animal. These tags emit a series of pings at regular time intervals and as the tagged animal swims by a receiver, these pings are recorded as unique identification codes along with the date and time. The receivers store this information until the receiver is retrieved and data are downloaded. Receivers are deployed in arrays as part of many different individual projects. However, through collaborative networks such as the Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry Network (ACT), detection data can be exchanged among projects and tagged animals can be tracked at continental scales.
Challenges
One of the main challenges ACT faced during its expansion was developing and maintaining data sharing and collection standards. To combat this, the ACT Network worked with regional partners, the US Animal Telemetry Network, and the OTN to operationalize an ACT data portal (MATOS). Data and metadata are submitted through MATOS and securely archived in standard formats on the ACT_MATOS node, an OTN-compatible node. Detections are then cross matched among all OTN compatible regional database nodes, which include the FACT node to the south and the OTN node to the north. These partnerships make exchanging information about tags simple and straightforward and data are downloadable in standard, analysis-ready formats. As ACT continues to expand, it will become increasingly valuable as a collaborative science community that provides information on aquatic animal movement.
For more information about the ACT Network or to find out how to become a member, please contact east.coast.telemetry@gmail.com