Welcome to the fifth geolocation exercise created by Sofia Santos. If you just found my blog and enjoy geolocation topics, I invite you to read my previous posts. Join me on this exciting journey to learn more about geolocation.
Task briefing:
The image below is a screenshot from a zoo live cam. It was taken on January 15, 2023 at around 2pm local time.
Please answer the questions below:
a) In which zoo are these polar bears located?
b) What was the temperature at the time of the screenshot?
c) What were the exact coordinates of where the bears were lying down?
OSINT Exercise #005
This time, a reverse image search on Google did not work right away. I used the image and added the word “zoo” to see what results I would get. Scrolling through them, I found this picture with a similar rock wall that I highlighted in blue below, and it was from the San Diego Zoo.
Next, I went to the San Diego Zoo page to see pictures of the polar bear habitats. In particular, I wanted to look for that rock structure I highlighted in red on the original image from the challenge. This is when I noticed they have a live camera option on their website, just like the ones used in our challenge.
This confirmed that we had the right location. Now, onto the next task, which is finding the temperature. For this, I went to a website with historical weather data and searched for January 15, 2023. You can see in the screenshot below that at 1:51 PM the temperature was 62 degrees Fahrenheit, and by 2:28 PM it dropped to 61 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using Google Earth, I believe the polar bears were lying down close to where I added the yellow star. We can see the rock wall on the left, the rock structure towards the back, and the rock edge where they are lying down.
Tasks:
a. In which zoo are these polar bears located?
b. What was the temperature at the time of the screenshot?
c. What were the exact coordinates of where the bears were lying down?
Solutions:
a. All the evidence gathered points with high fidelity towards San Diego Zoo.
b. The temperature was between 61 and 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
c. The coordinates where the polar bears were lying down are: 32°44’04″N 117°09’16″W.
This geolocation exercise demonstrated the power of open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques in identifying locations using visual and online resources. By analyzing key landmarks, conducting a reverse image search, and cross-referencing with live camera feeds and historical weather data, I successfully answered this challenge questions.
Hope you enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in my next blog post. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below, as I truly appreciate hearing your opinions and using your feedback to improve future posts.
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