Improved Satellite-Monitored Radio Tags for Large Whales: Dependable ARGOS Location-Only Tags and a GPS-Linked ARGOS Tag Reveal 3-Dimensional Body- Orientation and Surface Movements.

摘要

The goal of this project is to develop reliable sensing and monitoring technologies to identify the seasonal distributions of large whales, their underwater behavior, their ecological relationships, and ultimately their behavioral responses to man-made sounds. This involves both attachment and electronic developments. Two different semi-implantable satellite-monitored radio tag technologies will be further developed for whales: (1) a programmable, location-only (LO) Argos tag using contemporary technology will be available and be adaptable to testing a variety of attachments. Ultimately, it will be suitable for many scientific users to track local and seasonal movements of medium to large whales over varying time scales (months to a year); and (2) an improved recoverable GPS/TDR tag will include 3-axis accelerometer and compass sensors to document the detailed dive behaviors and foraging ecology of large whales over scales of weeks to months and will be capable of carrying additional acoustic recording devices useful in evaluating future noise response experiments.