The Great Pelagic Races: Engaging the Public Through Satellite Tracking and Social Media

The Great Turtle Race (GTR) and The Great Marlin Race (GMR) are excellent examples of how biologging and satellite tracking research can be integrated with new media technologies and cause-related marketing efforts to elevate public awareness and interest in marine science and conservation.  The first Great Turtle Race (GTR) was a unique international sea turtle conservation event that occurred online from April 16-29, 2007.  The race utilized tracking data from 11 satellite-tagged sea turtles to raise global awareness and funding for the management and conservation of critically endangered leatherback sea turtles and other threatened pelagic species.  During a two-week period, the GTR generated over 700,000 unique users, 43,000 subscribers, and 3,500,000 page views on the GTR website (www.greatturtlerace.com).  The GTR has been replicated with great success in both Indonesia (GTR 2; “Race to the Dateline’) and Canada (‘Canada to Caribbean’).  The GMR is a collaboration between Stanford University, the International Game Fishing Association, the Global Tagging of Pelagic Predators Initiative and the Tag-A-Giant Fund.  The GMR engages recreation fisherman as ‘citizen scientists,’ by enabling fisherman to directly contribute to tracking research efforts (through tag-sponsorship and deployment) and to share in the discovery process (through social media) and dissemination of research results. During the first (2009) GMR at the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT), seven satellite tags were sponsored and deployed. Five of these tags reported, including three that had travelled all the way to the Southern Hemisphere, in the vicinity of the Marquesas Islands – with distances of 1800-2250 nautical miles. At the 2010 HIBT, ten tags were sponsored and deployed, with nine tags successfully reporting. These tags showed a broader range of migratory paths, from south-southwest to almost due east, and a winning distance of 2,282 nautical miles.