Tawaki Cam - Penguins On Air
By The Tawaki Project
NZ $13,030 pledged
54 people pledged
Closed
NZ $12,500 minimum target
This campaign was successful and closed on 25/08/2023 at 9:00 PM.
Make a PledgeAbout
Tawaki Cam - Penguins On Air
Project 2023-07-17 13:45:26 +1200
Tawaki Cam is going to broadcast live video feeds from a tawaki/Fiordland penguin colony in Milford Sound to the internet.
Tawaki is one of the most beautiful and yet largely unknown penguin species. The penguins hit it off big recently as they were featured in Sir David Attenborough's award-winning documentary series "Our Planet II" (Netflix) which we helped to film. And inspired us to start this project!
The Tawaki Project has been working towards a better understanding and protection of these birds since 2014. Now we want to take the next step in bringing these incredible animals closer to the New Zealand public. We plan to establish a live video streaming system that will allow everyone to observe these penguins on their nests and on their hidden rain forest highways.
We are looking to install the technology in April 2024 (when the penguins are on their winter migration). And, with your help, we can start streaming from August 2024 onwards.
We have teamed up with the people behind the Royal albatross cam to set up a system in one of the tawaki breeding colonies that will deliver high resolution live video feeds from the forest. The feed will be operating from August to March every year, while tawaki are busy breeding and later moulting before going on their 5-months marathon journeys towards Antarctica (March-July).
Planning for the project has progressed with site-visits by the video stream experts and a detailed proposal on how to establish and maintain these video feeds in one of the wettest environments on the planet.
The Technology
Establishing a live video stream from a remote place like Fiordland is no mean feat. With the recent completion of the installation of fibreoptics cables from Te Anau to Milford Sound, the biggest problem - an internet connection - has been solved.
What is now needed are wireless data bridges to connect the penguin colony with the Milford settlement. This will involve a series of solar powered repeater stations that transmit the signal of several cameras to a broadcast server and from there as a live stream to the Tawaki Project's YouTube channel. The video stream will also be shown on a dedicated website (https://tawaki.cam) which will display additional information about the birds on screen and feature a text box listing supporter credits.
We will be using Full HD cameras that operate both during the day and at night (using infrared sensors) and capture high quality sound. At this stage we plan to deploy at least two of these cameras.
One camera will monitor an accessible tawaki nest allowing viewers to observe a penguin family from egg laying to the fledging of the chicks.
A second camera will be installed along the main access path between the beach and the penguin colony where we are already operating an Automated Wildlife Monitoring System. This is a small gate structure the penguins duck under on their way to the colony allowing us to determine the identify of every bird that passes through.
We will use the connection established for the cameras to also transmit the data from this monitoring system. That way we are able to provide real-time information about the penguins currently on screen (e.g. its name, sex, age, breeding status etc.).
The entire system will be powered by a combination of solar panels and a mini-hydro power station.
About the Tawaki Project
The Tawaki Project was established in 2014 by penguin researchers and students with the goal of advancing our knowledge about and improve the protection of tawaki/Fiordland penguins. At that stage, the species was considered to be one of the rarest penguin species in the world, although this was based on very little actual data. In the past nine years, our work has helped to greatly improve our understanding of the species behaviour and what is needed to manage the threats the penguins face. Our work also revealed that there are a lot more tawaki than what was assume. As a result of our work the IUCN redlist threat ranking of the species improved in 2020.
Another important goal of the Tawaki Project was to bring these fascinating penguins to the attention of the public. We are trying to increase the awareness about tawaki through social media and our YouTube channel. We also have helped several film crews to produce documentaries about the penguins.
We were an intrical part of the fliming of Netflix's "Our Planet II". From location scouting to scientific advice - it is safe to say the tawaki sequence in the series would not have happened without our help. Not to mention that tawaki even became the poster-child of this series.
Our PledgeMe campaign
In 2021, we formed the charitable Tawaki Trust to ensure that we can continue our work in the future. All of the scientists, students, and volunteers working with and for the Tawaki Project do so pro bono. This campaign is our first major attempt to fund raise as a charitable trust. While our Tawaki Project work so far has been primarily funded through donations by foundations as well as our awesome supporters over at Patreon.com, these funding avenues do not afford us to make greater investments - as needed now for the Tawaki Cam project.
We are excited about this project and hope so are you...
Comments
Updates 4
Another big thank you - and what's next.
26/08/2023 at 3:34 PM
Once again, a massive THANK YOU to all pledgers for TawakiCam!
This campaign started as a stab in the dark as we have never had a go at crowdfunding before. It was a lot of work, but also really rewarding. But most importantly, it was the vital first step to get TawakiCam off the ground.
Thanks to each and every one of you, we now possess the crucial funding needed to acquire the necessary equipment for the live stream. This funding also opens avenues for us to seek additional grant support, which is vital for establishing a comprehensive system that will integrate our transponder gate.
But whatever happens, in March and April 2024 we will be in Milford Sound to establish TawakiCam! Stay connected with us through our various social media channels for regular updates on the progress of TawakiCam in the upcoming months.
So, one final time - THANK YOU!!!
You made it happen! Thanks you!!
20/08/2023 at 9:53 AM
This morning we hit the campaign goal! What a way to start a Sunday!!
It's high time to express our heartfelt thanks for your generous support during this PledgeMe campaign. We are truly grateful for your belief in our project. With five days remaining in the campaign, we're committed to maintaining our momentum and working hard to not only reach but surpass our target. Your support has been instrumental in getting us this far, and we're excited to continue moving forward together.
We do have a stretch goal - a third streaming camera overlooking the fjord - which we now can aim at during the final five days of the campaign.
But more importantly, any additional funds we can raise will help us to ensure maintenance of TawakiCam. The system will incur ongoing costs which we have yet to raise funds for, namely internet fees as well as the inevitable repair/replacement of components that operate in an environment hostile to technology.
Of all the live video feeds out there, it is safe to say that TawakiCam is the most ambitious. Thank you all for being a crucial part of this journey!
Half-way there!
07/08/2023 at 12:53 PM
Last night the campaign reached the half-way point - mainly thanks to incredibly generous pledges by Margaret Healy!
We will continue to promote the campaign over the next 18 days. With the support we have received so far, we are starting to feel that we might actually should think about stretch-goals that go beyond what we have outlined in the campaign description. We could imagine to add a third video stream that overlooks the fjord where eagle eyed observers may actually be able to spot tawaki on the water. We know that the penguins from our main study colony spent most of their time foraging in the fjord.
But let's get closer to the original finish line! Thanks so much to all our pledgers so far!!
Ramping up our campaign
27/07/2023 at 3:00 PM
First of all, a huge thank you to the first pledgers for our campaign! You jumped into the cold water and we are extremely grateful!!
Four days into our PledgeMe campaign, we will ramp up the promotion of the campaign over the Tawkai Project's social media channels. We are also reaching out to various organisations we have collaborative relationships with (e.g. Southern Discoveries, Zoo Zurich, Taronga Zoo) to help with boosting our social media campaign to attract more pledgers.
So far our social media posts have reached close to 10,000 people. Clearly, we must reach a lot more people to be able to reach our goal. We will get there, though!
Pledgers 54
25/08/2023 at 9:16am
"Thank you for all you do and continue to do for our penguin friends!"
24/08/2023 at 12:07pm
23/08/2023 at 10:03am
"Looking forward to seeing these beautiful Penguin’s on camera and learning more about them. "
20/08/2023 at 5:40pm
"Tawaki 🐧🐧"
20/08/2023 at 5:12pm
20/08/2023 at 4:53pm
20/08/2023 at 1:47pm
20/08/2023 at 3:45am
"Pledged for mom, Doris Faris!"
20/08/2023 at 1:42am
19/08/2023 at 9:51pm
"Go Tawaki!"
19/08/2023 at 8:45pm
19/08/2023 at 4:36pm
19/08/2023 at 2:47pm
"Always happy to support these beautiful birds. Look forward to seeing the livestream. Great work Tawaki Project Team!"
19/08/2023 at 2:16pm
"Will be so amazing to see this go ahead :)"
19/08/2023 at 12:09pm
"Let's do this :)"
19/08/2023 at 6:09am
18/08/2023 at 10:24am
18/08/2023 at 12:16am
17/08/2023 at 7:11pm
15/08/2023 at 9:16am
14/08/2023 at 5:33pm
14/08/2023 at 1:36pm
"We would love to watch a Tawaki cam! Kia kaha Tawaki."
13/08/2023 at 12:27am
"I hope the project will be successful. Love Tawaki!"
13/08/2023 at 12:06am
12/08/2023 at 12:04pm
11/08/2023 at 7:40pm
11/08/2023 at 7:08pm
11/08/2023 at 1:48pm
10/08/2023 at 7:52am
"Regards from Germany. "
09/08/2023 at 2:52pm
Followers 4
Followers of Tawaki Cam - Penguins On Air
Tawaki Cam - Penguins On Air
Project 2023-07-17 13:45:26 +1200
Tawaki Cam is going to broadcast live video feeds from a tawaki/Fiordland penguin colony in Milford Sound to the internet.
Tawaki is one of the most beautiful and yet largely unknown penguin species. The penguins hit it off big recently as they were featured in Sir David Attenborough's award-winning documentary series "Our Planet II" (Netflix) which we helped to film. And inspired us to start this project!
The Tawaki Project has been working towards a better understanding and protection of these birds since 2014. Now we want to take the next step in bringing these incredible animals closer to the New Zealand public. We plan to establish a live video streaming system that will allow everyone to observe these penguins on their nests and on their hidden rain forest highways.
We are looking to install the technology in April 2024 (when the penguins are on their winter migration). And, with your help, we can start streaming from August 2024 onwards.
We have teamed up with the people behind the Royal albatross cam to set up a system in one of the tawaki breeding colonies that will deliver high resolution live video feeds from the forest. The feed will be operating from August to March every year, while tawaki are busy breeding and later moulting before going on their 5-months marathon journeys towards Antarctica (March-July).
Planning for the project has progressed with site-visits by the video stream experts and a detailed proposal on how to establish and maintain these video feeds in one of the wettest environments on the planet.
The Technology
Establishing a live video stream from a remote place like Fiordland is no mean feat. With the recent completion of the installation of fibreoptics cables from Te Anau to Milford Sound, the biggest problem - an internet connection - has been solved.
What is now needed are wireless data bridges to connect the penguin colony with the Milford settlement. This will involve a series of solar powered repeater stations that transmit the signal of several cameras to a broadcast server and from there as a live stream to the Tawaki Project's YouTube channel. The video stream will also be shown on a dedicated website (https://tawaki.cam) which will display additional information about the birds on screen and feature a text box listing supporter credits.
We will be using Full HD cameras that operate both during the day and at night (using infrared sensors) and capture high quality sound. At this stage we plan to deploy at least two of these cameras.
One camera will monitor an accessible tawaki nest allowing viewers to observe a penguin family from egg laying to the fledging of the chicks.
A second camera will be installed along the main access path between the beach and the penguin colony where we are already operating an Automated Wildlife Monitoring System. This is a small gate structure the penguins duck under on their way to the colony allowing us to determine the identify of every bird that passes through.
We will use the connection established for the cameras to also transmit the data from this monitoring system. That way we are able to provide real-time information about the penguins currently on screen (e.g. its name, sex, age, breeding status etc.).
The entire system will be powered by a combination of solar panels and a mini-hydro power station.
About the Tawaki Project
The Tawaki Project was established in 2014 by penguin researchers and students with the goal of advancing our knowledge about and improve the protection of tawaki/Fiordland penguins. At that stage, the species was considered to be one of the rarest penguin species in the world, although this was based on very little actual data. In the past nine years, our work has helped to greatly improve our understanding of the species behaviour and what is needed to manage the threats the penguins face. Our work also revealed that there are a lot more tawaki than what was assume. As a result of our work the IUCN redlist threat ranking of the species improved in 2020.
Another important goal of the Tawaki Project was to bring these fascinating penguins to the attention of the public. We are trying to increase the awareness about tawaki through social media and our YouTube channel. We also have helped several film crews to produce documentaries about the penguins.
We were an intrical part of the fliming of Netflix's "Our Planet II". From location scouting to scientific advice - it is safe to say the tawaki sequence in the series would not have happened without our help. Not to mention that tawaki even became the poster-child of this series.
Our PledgeMe campaign
In 2021, we formed the charitable Tawaki Trust to ensure that we can continue our work in the future. All of the scientists, students, and volunteers working with and for the Tawaki Project do so pro bono. This campaign is our first major attempt to fund raise as a charitable trust. While our Tawaki Project work so far has been primarily funded through donations by foundations as well as our awesome supporters over at Patreon.com, these funding avenues do not afford us to make greater investments - as needed now for the Tawaki Cam project.
We are excited about this project and hope so are you...
Comments
Another big thank you - and what's next.
26/08/2023 at 3:34 PM
Once again, a massive THANK YOU to all pledgers for TawakiCam!
This campaign started as a stab in the dark as we have never had a go at crowdfunding before. It was a lot of work, but also really rewarding. But most importantly, it was the vital first step to get TawakiCam off the ground.
Thanks to each and every one of you, we now possess the crucial funding needed to acquire the necessary equipment for the live stream. This funding also opens avenues for us to seek additional grant support, which is vital for establishing a comprehensive system that will integrate our transponder gate.
But whatever happens, in March and April 2024 we will be in Milford Sound to establish TawakiCam! Stay connected with us through our various social media channels for regular updates on the progress of TawakiCam in the upcoming months.
So, one final time - THANK YOU!!!
You made it happen! Thanks you!!
20/08/2023 at 9:53 AM
This morning we hit the campaign goal! What a way to start a Sunday!!
It's high time to express our heartfelt thanks for your generous support during this PledgeMe campaign. We are truly grateful for your belief in our project. With five days remaining in the campaign, we're committed to maintaining our momentum and working hard to not only reach but surpass our target. Your support has been instrumental in getting us this far, and we're excited to continue moving forward together.
We do have a stretch goal - a third streaming camera overlooking the fjord - which we now can aim at during the final five days of the campaign.
But more importantly, any additional funds we can raise will help us to ensure maintenance of TawakiCam. The system will incur ongoing costs which we have yet to raise funds for, namely internet fees as well as the inevitable repair/replacement of components that operate in an environment hostile to technology.
Of all the live video feeds out there, it is safe to say that TawakiCam is the most ambitious. Thank you all for being a crucial part of this journey!
Half-way there!
07/08/2023 at 12:53 PM
Last night the campaign reached the half-way point - mainly thanks to incredibly generous pledges by Margaret Healy!
We will continue to promote the campaign over the next 18 days. With the support we have received so far, we are starting to feel that we might actually should think about stretch-goals that go beyond what we have outlined in the campaign description. We could imagine to add a third video stream that overlooks the fjord where eagle eyed observers may actually be able to spot tawaki on the water. We know that the penguins from our main study colony spent most of their time foraging in the fjord.
But let's get closer to the original finish line! Thanks so much to all our pledgers so far!!
Ramping up our campaign
27/07/2023 at 3:00 PM
First of all, a huge thank you to the first pledgers for our campaign! You jumped into the cold water and we are extremely grateful!!
Four days into our PledgeMe campaign, we will ramp up the promotion of the campaign over the Tawkai Project's social media channels. We are also reaching out to various organisations we have collaborative relationships with (e.g. Southern Discoveries, Zoo Zurich, Taronga Zoo) to help with boosting our social media campaign to attract more pledgers.
So far our social media posts have reached close to 10,000 people. Clearly, we must reach a lot more people to be able to reach our goal. We will get there, though!
25/08/2023 at 9:16am
"Thank you for all you do and continue to do for our penguin friends!"
24/08/2023 at 12:07pm
23/08/2023 at 10:03am
"Looking forward to seeing these beautiful Penguin’s on camera and learning more about them. "
20/08/2023 at 5:40pm
"Tawaki 🐧🐧"
20/08/2023 at 5:12pm
20/08/2023 at 4:53pm
20/08/2023 at 1:47pm
20/08/2023 at 3:45am
"Pledged for mom, Doris Faris!"
20/08/2023 at 1:42am
19/08/2023 at 9:51pm
"Go Tawaki!"
19/08/2023 at 8:45pm
19/08/2023 at 4:36pm
19/08/2023 at 2:47pm
"Always happy to support these beautiful birds. Look forward to seeing the livestream. Great work Tawaki Project Team!"
19/08/2023 at 2:16pm
"Will be so amazing to see this go ahead :)"
19/08/2023 at 12:09pm
"Let's do this :)"
19/08/2023 at 6:09am
18/08/2023 at 10:24am
18/08/2023 at 12:16am
17/08/2023 at 7:11pm
15/08/2023 at 9:16am
14/08/2023 at 5:33pm
14/08/2023 at 1:36pm
"We would love to watch a Tawaki cam! Kia kaha Tawaki."
13/08/2023 at 12:27am
"I hope the project will be successful. Love Tawaki!"
13/08/2023 at 12:06am
12/08/2023 at 12:04pm
11/08/2023 at 7:40pm
11/08/2023 at 7:08pm
11/08/2023 at 1:48pm
10/08/2023 at 7:52am
"Regards from Germany. "
09/08/2023 at 2:52pm
Followers of Tawaki Cam - Penguins On Air
I want to embed this project somewhere
