Aflight, Afar
Tracking 15 Galápagos Albatrosses
What began as a straightforward attempt to map long-range albatross movement quickly evolved into an animation once it became clear that static maps couldn’t adequately convey time-aware data spanning enormous distances. The animation format proved to be the most effective way to show how individual birds traverse entire ocean basins over extended periods.
The project was created with conservation scientists in mind, particularly those working in ocean science and around the Galápagos. I was interested in how tracking data could be communicated more clearly to both scientific and public audiences, and hoped the workflow might be useful to others working with animal telemetry data who struggle to share it in an accessible way.
A key goal was replicability. Several people reached out asking how the animation was built, reinforcing the idea that many organizations hold valuable tracking datasets but lack practical tools for presenting them. One surprising result was how closely the recorded tracks aligned with the IUCN species range; unlike many wildlife datasets, the birds largely stayed within expected bounds.
One of the most challenging elements was the summary table showing total recorded days and distance traveled. ArcGIS Pro does not natively support this kind of output, and producing it required extensive experimentation and workarounds. Despite the effort, it added critical context to the animation and ultimately determined whether the project was worth sharing.
The animation was created entirely in ArcGIS Pro. A step-by-step walkthrough of the workflow is available here.
2026-01-06