Submerging technologies in aquatic systems: exploring the application of paired tracking and imaging tools for investigating species ecology

Innovative scientific tools offer new ways to gather information on aquatic species’ movement patterns, behaviour, physiology, and environment via different types of technology (e.g., electronic tags, video cameras, and biosensors). Despite the popularization and subsequent technological improvement of devices (i.e., smaller tag size, longer battery life, better video quality) in characterizing species movement or behaviours in aquatic environments (marine, estuarine, and freshwater), no single device can fully capture all the information needed to characterize the spatial and behavioural ecology of aquatic species. To address this gap, studies pair different technologies, allowing researchers to collect diverse datasets across different environmental conditions that can help reveal multiple drivers of movement and behaviour. Nevertheless, the extent to which tracking and imaging technologies have been paired in aquatic research remains underexplored, despite several articles peer-reviewing these devices either independently or in combination with other tools. This paper aims to provide an overview of pairing tracking technology with underwater video and camera imaging in aquatic environments. By reviewing and summarizing studies that have previously combined these tools, this paper seeks to help researchers recognize how pairing these devices provides benefits in collecting complementary datasets, improving the interpretability of results through verification or ground truthing, and aiding in more strategic sampling with electronic tools themselves. This paper offers practical insights into how these devices have been deployed across various research contexts, ranging across species, environmental conditions, and study objectives. Ultimately, this overview helps researchers recognize the value of using multiple electronic tools together, which can improve the precision and depth of their own studies, serving as a foundation for applying this approach in future research.