How to Tag a Whale

by AMNH on

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First things first: before a whale tag can do its job, researchers have to attach the electronic device—and make sure it stays put. 

It’s a demanding task that’s made possible by careful seamanship, dedication, and patience. (A long stick doesn’t hurt, either.)

A display table holds three whale tags of various shapes and sizes.
Tags, like those on view in the special exhibition Unseen Oceans, are equipped with a camera, sensors, and a transmitter to allow researchers to collect data about whales’ daily behaviors.
© AMNH/D. Finnin

Use Suction

Applying a piece of electronics that has staying power underwater and doesn’t bother the tracked whale is typically a job for a heavy-duty suction cup. Scientists will place these suction cups, which support a kit that holds a camera and a small suite of sensors and transmitters, on the end of a pole more than 20 feet in length, allowing them to get close enough to tap a whale on the back.

Illustration of the underside of a whale tag, on which four suction cups are mounted.
Whale tags can be attached for 24-hour periods with suction cups.
Alex Boersma, www.alexboersma.com

Time It Right

To apply a tag, researchers wait for a whale to surface to breathe. An ideal encounter is with a whale that’s either busy with a meal or catching a short nap at the surface.

Man stand on a small platform and holds a long pole with a tag attached to the end as a whale surfaces nearby.
Ari Friedlaender of University of California, Santa Cruz tagging a whale.
U.S. Navy/Photo Courtesy National Marine Fisheries Service

Retrieve, Repeat

After the tag falls off, it floats to the surface and emits a radio signal that researchers track so they can scoop up the sensor and upload that data to a computer for analysis. Tags can be reused multiple times, on different animals.