Website tracks Brent geese

12 April 2012

A pioneering Internet site dedicated to monitoring the progress of six Brent Geese on their annual migration across the globe was launched today.

All six Irish light-bellied Brent geese have been fitted with a satellite transmitter to enable researchers to track the birds' exact routes from the UK to their summer breeding grounds in Arctic Canada - a journey of more than 4,500 miles.

Researchers hope it will enable them to pinpoint the location of important staging and moulting sites for the birds, which are on the decline in the wild.

The public will also be able to check the progress of each bird via the website.

People can even apply to adopt one of the geese - which have been named Oscar, Hugh, Major Ruttledge, Austin, Kerry, and Arnthor - as a means of supporting the project, which has been organised by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), based in Slimbridge, south Gloucestershire, and sponsored by National Geographic.

WWT senior research officer Dr James Robinson said: "Understanding more about this incredible journey and the conservation status of these geese is an education not just for scientists but for younger generations too.

"We are keen to see this first and probably most interesting stage of the project used as an online learning resource in schools and at home."

The annual migration of Brent Geese is the longest and most perilous annual migratory flight of any goose and includes having to fly high enough to be able cross the 3,000-metre-thick Greenland ice cap.

The six geese being monitored were caught in Iceland last month on their way to Canada and fitted with the lightweight transmitters.

The transmitters send signals, via orbiting satellites, which identify the birds' locations.

The website can be found at www.wwt.org.uk/brent.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in