Crittercam : An animal-borne imaging and data logging system

CRITTERCAM is an animal-borne integrated video, audio and TDR data logging system designed for studying the behavior and ecology of large marine vertebrates at sea where systematic human observation is impossible. Harnessed to free-ranging animals, CRITTERCAM enables study of animal behavior free of potentially disturbing human presence. One hundred sixty-nine CRITTERCAM deployments have been made on 22 species. Most work has been done with harbor seals and Hawaiian monk seals, and to a lesser extent sperm whales (65, 25 and 25 deployments, respectively). Deployments revealed information and insights on habitat use, diving, foraging, reproductive and social behavior, territoriality, vocalization, and interspecific contact.