Animal Blog
Smartphone App Tracks Northern California Great Whites
October 23, 2012
Researchers at Stanford University have just turned your smartphone into a fairly sophisticated fish-finder, with the ability to pinpoint some very big fish.
The app is called Shark Net and will give the general public access to data collected by remote buoys in Northern California’s coastal waters that keep track of tagged white sharks.
The information is available thanks in part to a decade-long partnership with the Global Tagging of Pacific Predators project that studies migratory patterns and feeding behaviors of great white sharks.
Some sharks are seen often enough to earn themselves nicknames from researchers based on physical characteristics. Names like Sickle Fin, Scar Girl and Flat Top are all derived from the look of the sharks iconic dorsal fin.
The app is part of the Blue Serengeti Initiative which researchers hope will get people interested and engaged with the animals on a personal level—inspiring people to get involved with protecting the declining ecosystem in which these sharks live and hunt.
The app is available free of charge for iOS and Android systems.
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