Method and device for internal acoustic monitoring of marine mammals

摘要

The invention is a method directed towards measuring differences in sounds, temperatures and pressures detected within a marine mammal, then analyzing the data to better understand the activities and behavior of the marine mammal. Wherein a buoyant capsule having a hydrophone, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a memory chip, a radio frequency (RF) generator (or other means to enable its detection), software and a battery enclosed within a shell is disposed into a body of water. After a marine mammal ingests the capsule, the capsule is activated after which pressure data and sound data is detected, including sonar transmitted by a monitoring ship. The data is saved on the memory chip for recovery.

主权项

1. A method for monitoring behavior and activity of a marine mammal in a body of water, comprising the steps of:
disposing into the body of water a buoyant capsule having a hydrophone, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a memory chip, a radio frequency (RF) generator, software, and a battery enclosed within a shell; inducing the marine mammal to ingest the capsule; detecting temperature changes of the capsule by the temperature sensor; activating the capsule electronics when an internal body temperature of the marine mammal is detected; detecting sound data via the hydrophone, including sonar transmitted by a monitoring ship, and detecting pressure data via the pressure sensor, then saving the sound data and the pressure data on the memory chip; detecting a water temperature of the body of water, after excretion of the capsule by the marine mammal, to trigger a communication means that would allow the capsule to be recovered on the surface of the body of water; and retrieving said sound, pressure and temperature data from the recovered capsule via wireless transmission.