An internet site, dedicated to monitoring the progress of six brent geese on their annual migration to Ireland, was launched yesterday.
All six brent geese have been fitted with satellite transmitters to enable researchers track their routes from their summer breeding grounds in Arctic Canada - a journey of more than 4,500 miles.
Researchers hope it will enable them to pinpoint the location of important staging and moulting sites for the birds, which are on the decline.
The public will be able to check the progress of each bird on a website and can also apply to adopt one of the geese - which have been named Oscar, Hugh, Major Ruttledge, Austin, Kerry, and Arthur - as a means of supporting the project, which has been organised by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Gloucestershire, and sponsored by National Geographic.
WWT senior research officer, Dr James Robinson, said: "Understanding more about this incredible journey and the conservation status of these geese is an education not just for scientists but for younger generations too.
"We are keen to see this first and probably most interesting stage of the project used as an on-line learning resource in schools and at home."
The annual migration of brent geese is the longest and most perilous of any goose.
The six geese were caught in Iceland last month on their way to Canada and fitted with the lightweight transmitters that send signals, via orbiting satellites, which identify the birds' locations.
The website is www.wwt.org.uk/brent.