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The US wants you to track endangered wildlife with your phone
The next time you go fishing, make sure to bring your smartphone... it might just help you protect an endangered species. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is partnering with the developers of mobile app FishBrain to crowdsource conservation data. A new feature in the free software lets you catalog as many as 50 threatened species (aquatic or otherwise) during a trip, helping conservationists find out both where these critters live and why their populations are dropping. It seems paradoxical to ask anglers for help saving coastal life, but it makes sense when you think about it -- they're the most likely to see these rare animals, and they're often well aware that extinction has dire consequences. The big challenge will simply be getting enough people using the app to provide meaningful input. [Image credit: AP Photo/John Flesher]
Catch your limit with FishBrain Fishing Reports
When you get to your favorite fishing spot whether it is a lake or a river, or the ocean, you always wonder if the fish are biting and if so what are they hitting, and where can you find them. FishBrain Fishing Reports should offer some answers to those questions and more. The app runs on all iOS devices running iOS 6.0 or later. Once you sign up for the app, you will get a menu that allows you to explore fishing spots all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central, and South America. You can get information on spots in Europe and Asia too. Just about anywhere you can find fish you will be able to see what's biting. Zoom into where you want to fish and click on the blue fish to see what was caught at that location. Once you open the catch you get a picture of most of the catches and lots of helpful information. Anglers upload specifics on their catch and can include when it was caught, how big it was, what type of bait was used, what fishing method he used: trolling, free casting, jigging, etc. You can discover the depth the fish was caught, the depth of the water, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure. It even includes sky condition: sunny, cloudy or raining; water and air temperature, and water visibility. With all that information you should have plenty to go on when you put your line into the water. Once you have a successful trip, you can upload your own catches and information for others to use. FishBrain has a a list of about fifty different fish species, both fresh and saltwater, to choose from. You will find a picture of the fish and how many catches of that type of fish have been recorded. You can check out all the catches to see where and how they were caught. The app also provides an extensive listing of baits including flies, natural baits and artificial lures. In the lure area you will find hundreds of brand name lures and then under each brand the app provides a list of the various lures available from that manufacturer. For example, under the Rapala brand you will find more than a hundred individual lures: top water, spinning, deep diving baits, and jigs. Then under each of those you will find specific lures by color or what bait fish they match. You can add any of the baits you use to your tackle box and use that information when you upload your catch. FishBrain allows you to follow other anglers: those near where you fish, the most active ones, or individuals you may know or ones who are very successful. You get a list of all their catches and all the specifics of how they caught their big fish. With all the information packed into FishBrain Fishing Reports you could soon be one of those successful fishermen.
