Bio-logging, defined as the theory and practise of logging and relaying physical and biological data using animal-attached tags, has increased rapidly over the last decade. Advances in sampling and data retrieval devices have made it possible to create a synergy between biological studies and oceanographic studies. Bio-logging is therefore a new discipline where GIS and Remote Sensing techniques improve the interpretation and validation of the data provided by tagged seals as multidisciplinary approach. Since 2006 twenty five seals off the west coast of Ireland, tagged with sophisticated telemetry devices, have recorded over 22,400 temperature 'casts' of the water column totalling over a quarter of a million temperature readings. The temperature data collected by the seals contributes to knowledge about the upper ocean's thermal structure in areas where research vessels cannot access and where there are issues of accuracy with remotely sensed sea surface temperature (SST) data. Due to these technical limitations, coastal areas have remained relatively unexplored, constituting a 'white zone'. Animal-attached tags are an extremely cost-effective means of complementing existing sampling methods. Significant correlations have been found when comparing the data provided by the tagged animals with other traditional means (e.g. Tidbits", SST satellite imagery) and oceanographic models (e.g The Max-Planck-Institute Global Ocean/Sea-Ice Model (MPI-OM)). Given seals' dive behaviour they are extraordinarily useful surveyors as they identify interesting features in the water column in a multidimensional domain. This allows us to view the underwater environment with a seal's eyes!
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