Week 2 (#2): RFID Chips in Fish at Aquariums!

When researching about RFID technology, I came across the following article http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/8592/1 titled "RFID Chips Tell Fish Tales at Aquarium." I thought this was a very interesting and brilliant use of RFID technology!


The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, located in Virginia Beach, uses RFID to help visitors be better able to identify the fish in the 45,000 gallon tank. The fish are implanted with RFID chips and there is an RFID reader installed on the tank's exterior. When a fish swims by the reader, the reader's antenna captures the fish's tag ID number and results in a photograph and description of the fish to appear on the video screen; for example "Ted the black drum fish." The information includes where that particular fish was collected from the wild, its size and growth history, and its species characteristics. Granted, the read range is quite short, only about 9 inches, due to the water's salt content. After the fish swims away, the information remains on the right side of the screen, while a new fish's data will be displayed on the center of the screen once it swims by. Visitors can utilize the touch screen to select a fish that has already swam by and read more about it!


The first known use of this technology was done at the Underwater World Singapore aquarium in 2007 and then at the Underwater World Pattaya in Thailand in 2008. These new attractions have increased attendance at the aquariums and interest in the exhibits!