iTAG: Developing a cloud based, collaborative animal tracking network in the Gulf of Mexico

The tagging and tracking of aquatic animals using acoustic telemetry hardware has traditionally been the purview of individual researchers that specialize in single species. Concerns over data privacy and unauthorized use of receiver arrays have prevented the construction of large-scale, multi-species, multi-institution, multi-researcher collaborative acoustic arrays. A workshop1 to understand the informational needs and concerns of potential contributors to an integrated animal telemetry network in the Golf of Mexico was held at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, FL 29–30 May 2014. Input from workshop attendees provided a basic blueprint for the development of iTAG: Integrated Tracking of Aquatic Animals in the Gulf of Mexico. Key points made by attendees included solving the ‘orphan/mystery’ tag problem and ensuring machine-level data compatibility with the work being done by the Ocean Tracking Network2.