Remote Recognition of Moving Behaviors for Captive Harbor Seals Using a Smart-Patch System via Bluetooth Communication

Abstract

Animal telemetry has been recognized as a core platform for exploring animal species due to future opportunities in terms of its contribution toward marine fisheries and living resources. Herein, biologging systems with pressure sensors are successfully implemented via open-source hardware platforms, followed by immediate application to captive harbor seals (HS). Remotely captured output voltage signals in real-time mode via Bluetooth communication were reproducibly and reliably recorded on the basis of hours using a smartphone built with data capturing software with graphic user interface (GUI). Output voltages, corresponding to typical behaviors on the captive HS, such as stopping (A), rolling (B), flapping (C), and sliding (D), are clearly obtained, and their analytical interpretation on captured electrical signals are fully validated via a comparison study with consecutively captured images for each motion of the HS. Thus, the biologging system with low cost and light weight, which is fully compatible with a conventional smartphone, is expected to potentially contribute toward future anthology of seal animals.