072622 Canine Oil Spill & Leak Detection
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Man’s best friend has long earned its keep in service to humans when it comes to hunting, herding, providing protection, or assisting in searches.
Now, a few visionary researchers at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi are interested in training canines to sniff out crude oil on Texas beaches. Poppy, an English Springer Spaniel, and Bin, a German Shorthaired Pointer, are part of the university’s new Oil Detection Canine study.
At the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), housed within the College of Science and Engineering at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a team is currently focused on training Bin to differentiate between naturally occurring weathered oil (tar balls) and fresher crude oils (example: oil spills) up to three feet below the sand. As the control canine, Poppy is taught to detect any occurrence of oil.
If the study is successful, it will provide the State of Texas with a novel tool to conduct oil surveys on beaches.
Dogs wear a “working dog” vest, anti-sand goggles to protect their eyes from high wind situations, and paw pads to protect against hot sand. They are also trained using positive reinforcement (i.e. given treats or toys when they perform well).
The goal is to grow the number of oil detection canine teams throughout the State and the CCS is willing to train citizen scientist volunteers who can also act as “forever homes” to the dogs.
Read MoreNow, a few visionary researchers at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi are interested in training canines to sniff out crude oil on Texas beaches. Poppy, an English Springer Spaniel, and Bin, a German Shorthaired Pointer, are part of the university’s new Oil Detection Canine study.
At the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), housed within the College of Science and Engineering at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a team is currently focused on training Bin to differentiate between naturally occurring weathered oil (tar balls) and fresher crude oils (example: oil spills) up to three feet below the sand. As the control canine, Poppy is taught to detect any occurrence of oil.
If the study is successful, it will provide the State of Texas with a novel tool to conduct oil surveys on beaches.
Dogs wear a “working dog” vest, anti-sand goggles to protect their eyes from high wind situations, and paw pads to protect against hot sand. They are also trained using positive reinforcement (i.e. given treats or toys when they perform well).
The goal is to grow the number of oil detection canine teams throughout the State and the CCS is willing to train citizen scientist volunteers who can also act as “forever homes” to the dogs.
