BREMEN (AP) – Conservationist Stephen Kress sees the big-picture benefit of putting real-time video of remote seabird colonies on the Internet.

It’s not to teach the subtle behavioral traits of about 330 endangered roseate terns that have returned to Eastern Egg Rock. Instead, Kress hopes to build support for seabird restoration efforts from Maine to California by giving rare birds a worldwide stage on computer monitors.

“Seabirds are not backyard birds,” said Kress, a Cornell University professor who manages the Maine Audubon Society’s Coast Seabird Sanctuaries. “The principal goal for us is public education.”

Robotic cameras give people who otherwise would never have the opportunity to see a successful restoration of endangered species the chance to watch the birds in their natural habitat, he said.

In Maine, it started five years ago when the Audubon Society began streaming live video of puffins, loons and terns nesting on coastal islands onto the Internet for Project Puffin, which was principally a research tool.

Back then, Eastern Egg Rock was only the third site to use the technology developed by SeeMore Wildlife Systems Inc. in Alaska.

Today, more than 20 remote locations from Russia to California have sites. Robotic cameras transmit realtime video of endangered and threatened species, while still cameras are used for many other species.

At a California state park on an island off San Francisco, a camera records elephant seals. Another along the McNeil River in Alaska captures the world’s largest congregation of brown bears fishing for sockeye, silver and chum salmon.

As for roseate terns, there are only a handful of colonies along the East Coast. In addition to Eastern Egg Rock, there’s one off the coast of New Hampshire and another one on New York’s Long Island.

From Eastern Egg Rock, the camera sends images of puffins and roseate and common terns nesting on the rocky island.

Microwave transmitters or portable satellite dishes can send a signal to a receiver miles away that is wired to a mainland computer. That computer uploads the signal to the Internet.

The camera has a windshield wiper and a water supply to wipe the lens clean if a roosting bird gets too close. The cameras are powered by two 12-volt batteries fueled by solar panels installed nearby.

The technology had the immediate benefit of allowing researchers to move farther away from wildlife. But researchers soon realized the boon of showing the world the rare glimpse of nature.

“People can see them without ever going to the island,” Kress said, pointing to the image of a bird captured by a robotic camera on the island eight miles off the coast. “There, that’s an endangered species.”

Kress and other researchers hope those seascapes of endangered birds in their natural habitat will give restored wildlife projects an unprecedented reach in their effort to stir up public support for their successes.

“It’s a really unique public tool that gives people the natural world that they otherwise wouldn’t get,” said SeeMore president Daniel Zatz, a former nature photographer for CBS. “They otherwise wouldn’t be able to see the increasing number of birds out there.”

While cameras give the public a window for close-up views of what happens at a bird colony without disturbing the endangered species or impacting their environment, removing people from the equation may hamper restoration, said Michael Amaral, senior endangered species specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Concord, N.H.

“There’s nothing like making the effort to go and observe nature in nature,” Amaral said. “But you need to share your results and let people see that what you’re doing is worthwhile.”

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On the Net:

SeeMore Wildlife Systems Inc.: http://www.seemorewildlife.com

Project Puffin: http://www.projectpuffin.com

AP-ES-06-13-04 1231EDT