Albatross satellite mission

The toroa/northern royal albatross is endangered. They nest on the same rocky sea stacks each year in the Southern Ocean near the Chatham Islands. It is hard to access this area, so how do you monitor them? Scientists are using satellite imagery to monitor populations in these hard-to-reach areas.

This animated video is part of the Build a satellite interactive. To find out more about using satellites to track albatross populations, see the article How are satellites helping albatross? then follow up with the activity Analysing satellite data for albatross research.

Transcript

Hi, kia ora, great to see you!

Researching in the field is so amazing. We get to visit some truly awesome places.

I’m out on the Chatham Islands researching the toroa or the northern royal albatross.

This is where they come to nest each year, but since they’re endangered, it’s really important we keep an eye on them.

To get out to the Chatham Islands isn’t easy, and these rocky sea stacks are very dangerous!

We’ve come up with an idea. What if we use a satellite to capture images of the toroa? We think it will give us more information to help keep this species alive!

We’re pretty excited about the possibilities! Can you help us build and launch a satellite that is fit for our purpose? I know you can! Thanks e hoa.

Acknowledgements Albatross footage, iStock.com/phototrip