Overview

Views of Great Point Rip (wide angle). Recorded at 2-minute intervals during daylight operation. Link to the latest image from the camera. These images are collected using a weatherproof, battery-powered video camera mounted on the Great Point Lighthouse. The equipment and installation are maintained by the Multimedia Communications Laboratory at Boston University as part of a project to develop technology for enabling low-cost ecological monitoring of remote sites.

In addition to still images, the camera is programmed to record video at fixed locations and intervals to monitor wildlife behavior. For example,

• Do seals and shorebirds utilize Great Point during storms?
• How does human presence--pedestrians, vehicles, and boats--influence seal and shorebird behavior?
• Are predatory sharks utilizing the area?
• Are whales utilizing the area?
• How does beach morphology change on an annual, seasonal, and daily time scale?
• And of course, are the fish running today?

By deploying this equipment at Great Point we gain valuable insight into both wildlife behavior and assist in advancing this promising technology for monitoring remote environments.

Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CNS-0721884. We also thank The Trustees of Reservations, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Coast Guard for graciously providing access to the Great Point Lighthouse and assistance in installing our equipment.

Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation nor The Trustees of Reservations.

Contacts: Thomas Little, Boston University (tdcl at bu.edu); Diane Lang, Trustees of Reservations (dlang at ttor.org).