Attaching sensors to animals in order to study their movements and record aspects of their behaviour has become commonplace over recent years. However, because they need to be lightweight, these automated bio-loggers typically have limited battery capacity.That's a challenge, particularly when you want to use power-hungry data collection methods like video.Now, by … [Read more...] about Smart technology reveals new gull behaviour
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Irish Humpback Whale linked to Cape Verde breeding grounds
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has announced a positive match between a Humpback Whale photographed at feeding grounds off the Irish south coast in 2015, and an animal photographed at breeding grounds in the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa in April of this year.This is the first ever match between one of the 92 whales (at the time of writing) in the Irish … [Read more...] about Irish Humpback Whale linked to Cape Verde breeding grounds
New Citizen Science Project needs your Seal Sightings!
A new research project at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is looking for public input to analyse seal populations around the Irish coast.The project is being undertaken by German native Kristina Steinmetz, a graduate of the Biodiversity and Conservation MSc. programme at GMIT, as part of … [Read more...] about New Citizen Science Project needs your Seal Sightings!
Cork school children contribute to international godwit study
Under the banner of Operation Godwit an international team of scientists has been studying the Icelandic black-tailed godwit since the 1990s. Unique combinations of colour rings placed on the birds' legs on their breeding grounds in Iceland and on their wintering grounds in Western Europe allow individual birds to be identified, and mean that when birdwatchers around Europe … [Read more...] about Cork school children contribute to international godwit study
Friends in high places: red squirrels, grey squirrels and pine martens
There are two squirrel species found in Ireland. The native red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, and the invasive North American grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis. In Ireland, the UK and Italy the grey squirrel threatens the survival of the red squirrel as the effects of competition and disease from grey squirrels almost inevitably lead to total replacement of the red squirrel … [Read more...] about Friends in high places: red squirrels, grey squirrels and pine martens