Oceans Live!

WildCam Belize Reef

Bringing a marine World Heritage site to life

Imagine being able to visit a coral reef from the comfort of your home or office....and then to be able to control the camera...pan...tilt...zoom.

Imagine watching sunrise on a coral reef or chatting to colleagues in your office as a turtle swim by in real time...in Belize!

...Welcome to WildCam Belize Reef.

This is a collaborative project between National Geographic, IUCN, United Nations Foundation, Isla Marisol Resorts, and Real Networks, Inc. Using cutting-edge, live-streaming video technology, WildCam allows viewers all over the globe to see live, real-time footage of animals in the last strongholds of wilderness.

WildCam: Belize Reef is part of the National Geographic WildCam program, which promotes global awareness and education around wildlife in amazing and treasured places. As a key partner this work supports a critical objective of IUCN and the World Commission on Protected Areas to connect people to our oceans and how we are protecting them.

With WildCam: Belize Reef, you can watch the daily activities of one of the most diverse and productive underwater ecosystems on earth. It is located 600 meters offshore and 20 meters deep, in the Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve, one of seven MPAs contained within The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere. It is a spectacular home to many species of fish, turtle, marine mammal, coral and more, and significant habitat for threatened species, including marine turtles, manatees and the American marine crocodile.

Learn More about World Heritage

Visit WildCam Belize Reef

Warning - Aquanauts at Work!

Protecting Planet Ocean is not just about creating and managing Marine Protected Areas. It is also about overcoming the challenges of studying marine life in what remains to us a very hostile environment. Despite massive advances in technology we still know less about the deep ocean than we do about the surface of the moon.

Giving everyone the experience of what it is like to study marine life underwater in a Marine Protected Area is only now possible due to web-based systems. Aquarius is the world’s only underwater research station where you can experience the challenges of studying ocean life.

Aquarius is NOAA’s underwater laboratory, and home to up to 6 scientists research missions that last up to 10 days each. Located inside the 81–ton, 43 x 20 x 16.5–foot underwater laboratory are all the comforts of home: six bunks, a shower and toilet, instant hot water, a microwave, trash compactor, and a refrigerator even air conditioning and computers linked back to shore by wireless telemetry!

Aquarius is made to withstand the pressure of ocean depths to 120 feet deep. Presently, Aquarius is located in a sand patch adjacent to deep coral reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, at a depth of 63 feet. The laboratory is attached to a baseplate that positions it about 13 feet off the bottom. This means that the working depth of those inside the laboratory is about 50 feet deep.

Experience Aquarius live!

Crittercam

Capturing wild animal behavior without human interference!

Photo Credit: Greg Marshall

National Geographic's Crittercam is a research tool designed to be worn by wild animals. It combines video and audio recording with collections of environmental data such as depth, temperature, and acceleration. These systems allow scientists to study animal behavior without the possible effects of a nearby human observer. Combining solid data with gripping imagery, Crittercam brings the animal's point of view to the scientific community and a conservation message to the broader public. Crittercam footage shown in the video section for this MPA was filmed on an animal where the camera was attached inside, or near, the MPA.

For more than a decade Crittercam has given us insight into the lives of whales, sharks, seals and sea lions, sea turtles, penguins, manatees, and other marine animals. In 2002 the first prototype of a terrestrial Crittercam (designed for land animals) survived its maiden voyage on a wild African lion, opening the door to a whole new world of animal-borne imaging research.

Although the footage captured by Crittercam is not streamed live, it is state-of-the-art technology that provides firsthand and completely unique insights into animal behavior that we would otherwise never see or experience. Much of the video obtained through Crittercam was recorded on cameras that were attached to animals either inside or near MPAs. We don’t currently know the exact journeys that the animals took while the camera was operating, but it is probable that at least some of the footage was taken inside an MPA. As technology improves we will be able to track animals’ movements through MPAs.

Click on one of the MPAs below to watch the footage that was recorded in or near it:

Antarctic:

• Cape Royds, Ross Island Site of Special Scientific Interest (Antarctica)

Arctic:

• Sassen-Bunsow Land National Park (Svalbard, Norway)

Atlantic:

• Table Mountain National Park (South Africa)

Caribbean:

• Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun y Punta Nizuc National Park (Mexico)
• Dry Tortugas National Park (USA)
• Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (USA)
• Key West Marine Life Refuge (USA)

Pacific:

• Ano Nuevo Point and Island Reserve (USA)
• Hawaiian Islands (8 sites) National Wildlife Refuge (USA)
• Hawaiian Islands Humpback National Marine Sanctuary (USA)
• Las Baulas de Guanacaste Marine National Park (Costa Rica)
• Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (USA)
• Moreton Banks Fish Habitat Area A (Australia)
• Moreton Bay Marine Park (Australia)
• Myora - Amity Banks Fish Habitat Area A (Australia)
• Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (USA)
• Peel Island Fish Habitat Area A (Australia)
• Point Lobos State Marine Reserve (USA)

Learn More about Crittercam!