Lotek acoustic telemetry systems for monitoring monitor marine fish, birds, and mammals of almost any size.

Acoustic Telemetry

In its broadest sense, telemetry can be defined as the art and science of conveying information from one location to another. With acoustic telemetry, sound waves are utilized to convey that information.

In situations where radio telemetry is not practical or appropriate (e.g., in deep or highly conductive water, i.e., salt water), researchers can use acoustic transmitters and receivers to track fish and wildlife.

As in other areas of fish and wildlife monitoring, Lotek has expanded the boundaries of acoustic telemetry with a range of innovative options, including the introduction of a combined acoustic and radio transmitter for use in multiple habitats. Our latest innovations in acoustic telemetry, represented by the MAP System, allow simultaneous decoding of multiple signals and reliable tracking in high noise environments.

Equipment

Acoustic telemetry involves the use of transmitters to emit the signals, hydrophones to convert them, receivers to detect and record them and accessories to further support and enhance this tracking technology.

Lotek offers a variety of acoustic transmitters for use on fish and wildlife of various sizes, in various habitats. Our receivers and accessories are equally versatile, providing a range of tracking options to fit your research needs.

Types & Options

Both in the transmitting and the receiving of acoustic signals, a variety of options are available:

Manual tracking or automatic datalogging equipment
Traditional "pingers" or the latest in microprocessor based coded tags
Highly programmable tags:
- flexible repetition rates
- up to 212 unique codes per frequency
"Loud", high source level tags or extra-life tags
Traditional/wired or wireless hydrophones
Combined acoustic and radio transmitters

Innovations

Lotek's telemetry systems are among the most advanced of their kind in the world. We are proud to be on the leading edge of the development of fish and wildlife tracking technology. Some of our biggest innovations in this area:

the only receiver capable of monitoring coded or uncoded radio and acoustic tags;

the only receiver capable of supporting up to 64 hydrophones and/or 8 antennas;

the only dynamically switching combined acoustic and radio tag;

the smallest acoustic transmitter;

the smallest archival tag with unparalleled memory and resolution;

the first marine GPS archival tag; and

the only high resolution, 3-dimensional position system for high noise applications.

Species &
Habitats

Acoustic telemetry is normally utilized in marine habitats, where the conductivity of the salt water hinders the transmission of radio signals. The range of animals that can be tracked with this technology is large; Lotek offers tags that allow researchers to monitor marine fish, birds, mammals and amphibians of almost any size. Not sure if your species applies? Contact us and we'll be pleased to discuss tracking options with you.

Examples

Our engineers and biologists have worked with clients to develop systems capable of monitoring many different types of animal movement and behaviour. Just a few examples of past applications of this technology:

3-D monitoring of largemouth bass at Warner Lake as part of a multi-year study by the Queen’s Ecological Observatory, Kingston, Ontario. (View a video presentation of this data)
Understanding the response of Atlantic Salmon to redirected flows at the mouth of the Suldalslågen water system, Norway (profile in PDF format)
A behavioural study of released aquaculture steelhead trout in the Bay d'Espoir estuary, Newfoundland
High precision monitoring of juvenile Atlantic cod in Newman Sound, Newfoundland
Precise and accurate three dimensional positioning of Steelhead Trout in an aquaculture cage in Bay d'Espoir, Newfoundland
Supporting sound fisheries management by understanding cod and plaice migratory processes in the North Sea (profile in PDF format)
Dive profiling of Hawksbill turtles near Buck Island, U.S.V.I.

Products

Follow these links for detailed information on all of Lotek's acoustic telemetry systems and components:

Acoustic Telemetry Solutions
MAP	The MAP 600 acoustic telemetry systems
Pulsed or Coded Acoustic Transmitters	The MAP series: coded acoustic transmitters for MAP systems Miniature MAP series: coded acoustic transmitters for MAP systems The CAFT series: coded acoustic fisheries transmitters The CART series: combined acoustic and radio transmitters
Sensor Transmitters	Coded Sensor Transmitters
Radio Receivers / Dataloggers
Receivers / Dataloggers	The SRX 600: receiver/datalogger system The SRX 400: receiver/datalogger system
Hydrophones
Hydrophones	The LHP series: Traditional Wired Hydrophone for manual tracking or automatic datalogging The WHS 1000 series: Wireless Hydrophone System for acoustic to radio relay The WHS 3000 series: Wireless Hydrophone System for use with MAP systems

For more
information

A wide range of transmitters, receiver configurations and accessories are available to address your acoustic telemetry needs. The telemetry system design most suitable for your particular study is dependent upon an equally wide range of application-specific factors.

Contact us and our application specialists will be happy to discuss your telemetry system requirements in detail, and assist you through all the stages of your project planning to ensure that your system design and data gathering capabilities are optimized to capture the information that you seek.

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