It was an absolute monstrosity. It was probably six inches in diameter, and, I don't know, maybe 12 or 14 inches long.
And what information did the prototype collect?
The most important piece of information that I've perhaps ever recorded. And that is that the animal accommodated the camera without changing its behavior at all … That was really the first huge hurdle that one had to get over in pursuit of a concept like this.
What inspires you and your Remote Imaging team to keep developing Crittercam?
We're just interested in discovering new things about what's happening on our planet … and trying to use that information to do a couple things. One, to expand our knowledge base. Two, to try to use the information to help conserve and protect these animals and the habitats that are critical to them. And three, in order to achieve the second objective, to get people to be inspired, get people to feel … a direct connection with an animal through that animal's direct visual experience of its world. And that's, of course, where Geographic television comes in—through Geographic films we can reach a lot of people and hope we get them to care. And then we have a chance of actually doing some good conservation.
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