Scientists have used Google Earth to depend New England ’s white-haired seals , and the news show is good : The digital view make out tens of thousands of animals , far more than previously count on . The researchers published their determination in the journalBioscience .
The same feature and behaviors that avail grey seals come through — their snow- and ice - colored coats , along with their unassailable swimming skills — can also make them hard for scientists to find . It ’s important that we discover them , and not just because they ’re so very cute .
Accurate view of wildlife populations are crucial not only to scientific apprehension of how the populace works but also in create policy meter that will serve keep that wildlife safe .
Historically , research worker have done their counting the old - fashioned way : first on pes , seal by seal , then by motor vehicle , then by wing planes over the hauled - out sealing wax families as they repose on the beaches and ice .
premature aerial surveys of New England populations spotted about 15,000 Navy SEAL off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts . But scientists were middling trusted they were dominate at least a few animate being .
For a different perspective , they tap into Google Earth and scoured the beaches , the glass , and the frigid water where the seal expend so much of their clip . They overlaid these icon with radio tracking information , and the combination provided a far fuller view of the seals ’ world .
review the results , the researchers discovered that the aeriform surveys had , in fact , omit a few animals . All right , more than a few — more like 15,000 to 35,000 . The Google Earth / radio data survey easily replicate and could treble former estimation .
“ Computer - based assessments of Navy SEAL populations such as this hold swell hope in terms of truth and repeatability , ” study co - source David W. Johnston of Duke University said in a statement .
“ This is a conservation achiever that should celebrated . ”
