Crittercam

Crittercam is a small package of instruments including a camera that can be attached to a wild animal to study its behaviour in the wild. National Geographic's Crittercam is a research tool designed to be worn by wild animals. It combines video and audio recording with collection of environmental data such as depth, temperature, and acceleration. The live feeds help scientists experience an animal's daily routines. Crittercam was invented by National Geographic marine biologist Greg Marshall in 1986. Since then it has been employed in studies on over 40 marine and terrestrial animals.

The introduction of the terrestrial Crittercam made it possible for researchers to monitor the animals and their activity exactly when it occurred. Previously, the cameras could only record data and images for future playback once the camera was retrieved from the animal. When introduced in 2001 the camera was about half an inch in size. It had a resolution of 340 lines and is sensitive down to 3 lux. At this time it used a nine-volt battery for short term documentation of the animal’s activities and a 1-pound battery to monitor for one week. The size of the battery continually increased as the duration of documentation did as well. Footage obtained from its use has appeared in program titles including "Great White Shark", "Sea Monsters," and “Tiger Shark”. The first depth gauge was invented in the late 1800s. However, it wasn’t until 1964 that the first depth recorder was actually placed on an animal, a Weddell seal in Antarctica. The next advancement in recording animal-borne imagery was made possible by a microprocessor that attached a video camera in a submersible case to a loggerhead turtle. This case came to be known as the Crittercam. Marshall first conceived his idea of the Crittercam on a diving trip in Belize. During one dive he encountered a shark with a sucker fish clinging to its body. He then realized that if a camera could be utilized to replace the sucker fish, researchers could explore the environment and behavior of sharks without having to dive deep. He immediately began work on this idea, receiving small grants from the American Museum of Natural History to support his funding. He later secured a grant from the National Geographic Society and began to develop highly improved prototypes of his initial device that was strapped to the loggerhead turtle. These prototypes were successfully utilized on sharks and sea turtles. Since its production the Crittercam has been used to study the underwater behaviors of green turtles, humpback whales, blue whales, monk seals, reef sharks, and many other marine animals. When employed on emperor penguins, the camera proves its usefulness by capturing their behavior below the ice of Antarctica’s waters where no human would be able to dive and manually record because of the freezing temperatures. In order to ensure the safety of the animals, in case something was to go wrong with the camera, scientists are able to remove the device through a remote control.

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