Radar Beacon Balls as a Recovery Aid in Field Studies

Field biologists that follow nest fates face a multifold challenge in repeated visits to the nesting beaches situated in zones of environmental flux or within obvious public domains. A need often arises for cryptic marking methods that do not clue predators or human vandals to an exact nest location. Thus, a general problem statement is a search for technological solutions in fine scale geolocation, especially if involving the recovery of valuable research samples or data loggers. Tucker et al report on relocation and detection trials for radar beacon balls buried in the sand to test a novel tool for effective recovery of sea turtle nests or data loggers.