h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi everyone,

As my graphic designer colleague Jono advances the design for the look of this and the navigation, I've been thinking more about how we might support it.

First, I see the online mapping as a way of communicating with people who are or are becoming, interested in the situation of the albatross. This could include bird lovers, school students, anyone interested in the environment or adventure who is following our voyuage on line.

The map introduces a sense of scale and should create a sense of wonder. By showing both the yacht's course and progress, and the tracks of albatrosses, viewers will see just how far these birds fly and how amazing their navigation is. The daily reports from the yacht, which could include some pictures, could give a complementary sense of the environment, and how rugged it is.

Wouldn't it be great if over the course of a 20 to 40 day flight, viewers began to feel a relationship with the bird, (possible with sensitive interpretation of their daily flight pattern) wondering where and how far it will go next... and when one suddenly disappears (as no doubt they will), a huge sense of loss. Another one drowned.

How will we plot these tracks?

Frances Taylor is now busy preparing a series of albatross tracks, one of which would be progressively displayed as we sail along each leg. The way I see this working is that Frances prepares this data as a series of spreadsheets, one for each leg. These are then held by Bruce Thompson of VicMap who is supporting the onine mapping for us, who in liaison with Frances and myself, then adds a new plot each day as we sail along each leg.

To add a bit more value there will also be a link from the mapping pages to a page about each of the albatross species we are focusing on, this link will go to the relevant Birdlife page which already exists.

To add a bit more value to the bird position plots, what about there being a page which tells the reader all about this particular bird and (progressively) comments on its flight path? For instance there could be information about where the bird comes from, ie where it nests, maybe its known habits (previous flights?, partner? name? etc, and then each day a comment regarding its flight over the previous 24hrs, eg something along the lines of..... "Michael has only flown 20k over the last 24hrs, he's probably foraging, perhaps found .... or maybe he's following a fishing boat, usually he flies straight past this area heading for xyz." Then each day add another comment. This information page about the bird and the comments could be on H2G2, (with a link from the map) and simply updated daily by Frances. All of this could actually be pre-prepared.... (well, I guess Frances could do it live, it would only take a few minutes each day, and also answer peoples questions (we'd invite them)), but she'd need to prepare for the time she is on the boat to minimise air time from the boat. What do you think? How could we make this better?

Re the position of the boat on the map:
My current thinking is to send Bruce a daily noon position which he will then update on the map. We would also send a daily report with some pictures to H2G2, probably creating a new page each day. There would be a link to this from each day's noon position on the map, selecting the link might open the H2G2 page in a new window on the map page.

There will also be links from the map page to the Contents page on H2G2, the crew information, information about the yacht and voyage, and a guide on how to use the map pages.

Frances is also now preparing a background information page I believe on illegal fishing which will also be available and linked.

We do have to keep it simple and robust, or it will never survive 12 months.

Your thoughts please

Nick

Hi Nick, and all

Well, late Friday evening, a glass or two of red wine, and some good music on - I finally have the time to think about this big adventure.

Your idea about a extra page with more detail on the particular bird we are tracking is great, Nick. I just wish we had that kind of information! For most, if not all, of the birds this is the first time they've been tracked. Some might have previous breeding information, so we could tell you things like what mate they've had, how often they've been recorded breeding, and how succesful their breeding attempts have been. I will try and get that kind of information out of Deon and Richard Cuthbert, who have supplied the tacks I've already sent you.

This ties in with an idea that's been knocked around a bit before - how do you make a person feel personally connected with the albatross. I was thinking along the lines of a kids page where we put up all the astounding facts and did-you-knows about albies. I have some great stories from Marion - like the bird that swapped mates every year - she tried to breed every year, but had an "even" year mate, and an "odd" year mate. Or the pair that spent 14 years trying to raise a chick, and never got it right. These are stories that are important to me, because they provide a sense of individuality, but they'll never make it into a scientific journal. I think we could use them to connect the general public to the idea that albatrosses are as individual as people - a terrible case of anthropomorphising(?) but the means justify the ends!

Another important thing is to give people avenues for taking action. I know John is not keen on sponsorship, but it is through sponsorship that a lot of things are done. Most people can't give time or expertise, but they can give money. I think its important to tell people, OK, the voyage is personal and unsponsored, but if you would like to make a donation you can do it here... Apart from that, what can the ordinary person in the street do to aid albatross conservation? I'm no expert in political matters, so I'll leave comment on political avenues to others...

Well, thats my 2 cents worth. I agree with Nick that most of our preparation should be done before we sail, because then we have all the resources we need. So I've got to head off and finish the fishing effort database..

Cheers
Frances

Thanks Frances,

I really like your ideas for the albatross stories - well I'd still like to have pages with whatever information you do have about the bird being tracked, or anecdotes about its species, or other interesting stuff, as you say, great material that never appears in academic journals - this is the place for it!

Can I take it that you will be able to prepare the info tracks etc and pass to Bruce Thompson for setting up with the online maps etc?

Many thanks

Nick

Sure Nick - I'll put together whatever I can to give to Bruce. I am just waiting for approval from John Croxall before I do the Greyheaded and Blackbrowed tracks. The others will only be done in September, by which time you will be on the boat, but if everything is set up I can just let Bruce have the tracks and he can take it from there.

Exactly - great - thank you Frances.

Nick

The online mapping will be great - a noon position of the boat, overlaid with the position of a tagged albie is a great idea and a way of relating the voyage back to the bird. I think the 'personal profile' of the tagged albatross would fit well on a general page for each species - as I think with the daily log of species seen - we need to have at least a photo and some information about ALL the species mentioned/seen during the voyage. It is a bit hard for people to relate to a species that they have no concept of and where it lives. Having a 'personal profile' for the tagged birds on these pages adds extra value.

The fact that we don't have (or are only just starting to get) information on many of these species away from their breeding colonies is also an important message. We are dealing with a very difficult groups of animals due to their oceanic habits, and I think this is worth noting.

I would support the concept of a 'donation' link through to the Campaign. This does not have to necessarily be in support of the voyage (in keeping with the wishes of an unsponsored voyage), but at least would enable a financial benefit to the Save the Albatross Campaign, as well as the huge publicity/promotional boost the campaign will receive from this expedition.

A few more thoughts....
Brent

Hi Nick and everyone,

Last winter, Peter Schumann sent me a copy of Carl Safina's "Eye of the Albatross" ISBN 0-8050-6228-9 (hb). Published in 2002 by Henry Holt in USA. I believe it's in paper back now. John Croxall recommended it. I have found it invaluable. Written for the general public, it's about the flights of an albatross called Amelia and there are things in the book which might help us with our online mapping.

Into the mist...John.