Thermal Camera at the Zoo

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Thermal videos at the ZooVideos of wild animals are cool to watch. I figured that viewing animals through a thermal camera would be just as interesting. We visited the Assiniboine Park Zoo and captured a selection of animals on our thermal camera.

We visited the zoo on April 3, 2021. It was 16 degrees Celsius (or about 60 degrees Fahrenheit) which is a pretty warm day for April in Winnipeg.

At the zoo, the animals have 3 different types of enclosures:

  1. Enclosed steel cages
  2. Walled cages
  3. Glass cages

In the enclosed steel cages, the animals were completely surrounded by a wire mesh. Viewing animals through a mesh of steel grids slightly obstructed the thermal camera but it was the same experience as viewing the animals with the bare eye.

In the walled cages we had a direct view of the animals - nothing obstructing the view because the walled cages were normally lower.

The third type - glass or plexiglass cages - does pose a problem for thermal cameras. Although an awesome experience for the bare eye or with a normal camera, it does not work at all with thermal cameras. Thermal cameras cannot see through glass or through plexiglass. It is similar to looking at a mirror. The only thing you will see is your reflection.

Because of this limitation, certain animals could not be filmed when viewed behind glass.

Here is a collection of some of the animals at our zoo.

Enjoy.

My most surprising observation with the thermal camera was the video of the tiger. You can actually see the stripes on the tiger thermally. I did not expect that at all.

One fun thing I found using the camera was looking for birds in the aviary. As a kid when I visited the zoo, we would rush through the aviary because we couldn't find any of the birds hidden among the tropical plants. With the thermal camera, it made it alot easier to find where they were hiding.



Thermal View of Hot Water Thrown into the Air in Winter - Part II

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Hot Water on a cold winter day Part IIOur cold spell in Winnipeg has gone on for a while. So when life gives you lemons, well, you make YouTube videos and new blog articles.

This video was shot on February 13th, 2021 during a cold snap our city was suffering.

We had a morning temperature of -37 degrees Celsius (-34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) during this experiment. These temperatures are definitedly at the bottom range of our camera which is rated to a temperature of -40 degrees Celsius.

Below is the YouTube video of the event. This time, rather than having an overlay of the thermal over the visible as we had done in our previous article, we put together a side-by-side video (or a diagonal side-by-side to be more precise). A good portion of the water immediately turned to water vapor, but some also made it to the ground.

Now for the interesting observation. As the vapor, or mini clouds, go over the trees and houses in the background, this does not effect what is seen through thermal.

Thermal imagery goes through these clouds. It is as though these clouds were not even there. Visible light of these clouds blocked the background and trees from view from our eyes and our normal camera.

Additionally, if you pause the video at just the right moments, you can see the hot water leaving the cup, but then it disappears as the cold weather does it's thing and freezes the water droplets.

We hope you enjoy this side-by-side view of this popular cold weather experiment.



Thermal View of Hot Water Thrown into the Air in Winter

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Hot Water on a Cold Winter dayWe captured a video of hot water being thrown into the air on a very cold winter's day.

The video was shot on February 7th, 2021 during a cold snap our city was suffering. Winnipeg, or "Winterpeg", as the residents fondling call it, had a temperature of -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) during this experiment. Below is a screenshot of the forecast.

Weather Forecast


Below is the YouTube video of what we observed. Observation: A good portion of the water immediately turned to water vapor, but some also made it to the ground.

We hope you enjoy this unique view of this popular cold weather experiment.



Thermal Palettes YouTube Video

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Visible PaletteHere is a YouTube video demonstrating the different color palettes available with the Seek Thermal Compact Pro Camera.

We shot a video of our freshly boiled kettle alongside a glass of ice cold water. We then cycled through all the color palettes available for viewing.


Here is the thermal video. Enjoy. Which is your favorite?