Patent ID: 8581688

Claim:
A method for monitoring a coastline for passage of a person or vessel, comprising: arranging sensors at fixed locations proximate the coastline and spaced apart from one another, each sensor being configured to determine its location; obtaining data about the environment around the sensors via the sensors; providing each sensor with a processor such that each sensor includes a processor, the processor in each sensor embodying a pattern recognition system that analyzes the data obtained by the sensor to recognize characteristic signals indicating the passing of a person or vessel and a reportable condition relating to passage of the person or vessel proximate the coastline; analyzing the data using the pattern recognition system in each sensor to determine the presence of a reportable condition relating to passage of a person or vessel proximate the coastline; and for any sensors that have determined the presence of a reportable condition, transmitting using a communication portion of the sensor, the data or a signal indicative of the analysis of the data from the sensor to a monitoring facility via the Internet, and transmitting using the communication portion of the sensor, the location of the sensor as determined by the sensor from the sensor to the monitoring facility.