Integrating Harbour Seal Movement data in Web Visualisation tools

Iban Ameztoy

GIS, Remote Sensing, Modelling and Internet Technologies, Coastal & Marine Resources Centre, (IE)

An exciting study on seals behaviour at sea off southwest Ireland started earlier this year. The project funded by the Marine Institute under the National Development Plan will provide for the first time ever information on the movements and behaviour of seals in Irish waters.
Irish researchers from UCC, working with world leading experts in marine mammal research from the Sea Mammal Research Unit in Scotland are using sophisticated tags to study the seals offshore movements and behaviour. The tags use a novel telemetry system (fast acquisition GPS) together with mobile phone technology to relay the information back to a base phone.
Fine scale information on where the seals have travelled to offshore, along with data on dive depths and duration, will help scientists determine the foraging or feeding behaviour of seals.

One of the objectives is to make available all the information via a website and to display the data using different web-mapping based options.

The display and data integration methods are different depending in which option is chosen. These can be classified into three groups;

- Static Maps.
- Common Geographic Servers (e.g. MapServer, ArcIMS)
- Virtual 3d globes and 2d mapping systems (Google Earth, Google Maps)

The information available via Internet will be accessible to researchers, organizations and the general public interested in seals and Geographic Information Systems, making it possible to raise awareness of harbour seal behaviour in southwest Ireland and providing a medium through which the user can be informed of our research and of any exciting news regarding the project.