"Mobile SOS Cory's Shearwater" and "Golden Cory's Shearwater" are new features in the rescue campaign for the Azores' most emblematic seabird
The Regional Director for Sea Affairs highlighted in Horta the "novelties" of this year's SOS Cory's Shearwater campaign, namely the "Mobile SOS Cory's Shearwater," a beta version of a form that can be accessed on a smartphone, and the delivery of the "Golden Cory's Shearwater" prize.
Filipe Porteiro spoke Thursday on the sidelines of a gathering on SOS Cory's Shearwater campaign, an initiative organised by the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs and the Azores Sea Observatory.
"In partnership with the computer services of the regional administration, we have developed an online form that allows the real-time register of the location where Cory's Shearwater specimens are found," the Regional Director said, adding that this registration process is more systematic and objective.
This new tool aims to facilitate the collection of data during rescue operations, especially the automated registration of GPS coordinates. It will be possible to access the form through a QR cod, authorise the location registration on the smartphone and submit the rescue, registering automatically where and when the specimen was found.
The delivery of the "Golden Cory's Shearwater" prize was another novelty announced by Filipe Porteiro. The initiative intends to "acknowledge the people who participate in a more active and regular manner in this campaign."
The government also took the opportunity to present figures on the 2017 SOS Cory's Shearwater Campaign, which registered a total of 2,840 birds rescued in the archipelago.
In addition to the quiz on this emblematic Azorean seabird, which generated a debate among participants, the gathering also included the promotion of scientific brigades, which have been organised since 2016.
According to the Regional Director, through this event, it was intended "to raise the awareness of people for their participation in scientific brigades, whose activity is carried out in the night period for the collection of information in order to be analysed by scientists working in this field."
The SOS Cory's Shearwater campaign, which runs November 15, is coordinated and promoted by the Government of the Azores, through the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs, and implemented by the Regional Directorate for the Environment, through the Island Natural Parks with the support of various entities.
For further information, those who are interested should consult the "SOS Cory's Shearwater" page at http://soscagarro.azores.gov.pt.