Apr 30, 2014

GPS Tracking For Cattle Herd Helps Protect Your Stock

By Adah Bumpaus


Companies like ours sell GPS vehicle tracker systems to, well, track personal cars and fleet vehicles. However, people are inventive, and it's not surprising to discover them using GPS tracking systems in creative and unusual ways. GPS riding art Michael "Wally" Wallace is a middle school science teacher. His hobby is using GPS vehicle tracking to transform maps of the city into art.

When he pulled the thieves over, they naturally claimed the hay was theirs; they were on their way to feed their cattle. When the sheriff showed them the GPS hidden in a bale, they asked if they could simply return the hay and forget the whole incident. They went to jail. Since then hay thefts have dropped dramatically in Tillman County, Oklahoma.

Wally's vehicle tracker continuously sends location data to a satellite, which relays it to a GPS server that stores and records the data. The route data is then superimposed on Google Maps to reveal his "drawing." Wally's art has been featured in various media around the world. You can see a showcase of his work by visiting his online gallery at WallGPX.com. Who knows? It may lead you to digitally sketching your own masterpieces.

Manta rays have the highest brain-to-body ratio of all rays and sharks. And because they don't have dangerous stingers like stingrays, they're harmless to humans. Unfortunately, humans aren't harmless to manta rays. They chop the rays for shark chum, use them for traditional Chinese medicine and run over them with ships. If marine biologists hoped to improve the long-term survival of manta rays, they desperately needed more data.

Initial data came via GPS trackers, which scientists placed on six manta rays and monitored them for 64 days before the units fell off. Results of the tracking program were published in a study by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Mexican government and the University of Exeter. Among their findings they discovered manta rays: -- Traveled almost 700 miles during the two months they were tracked. -- Preferred warm water less than 50 meters deep. -- Swam most of their time in coastal waters with plentiful zooplankton and fish eggs.




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