Long-term survival of humpback whales radio-tagged in Alaska from 1976 through 1978

Invasive tags designed to provide information on animal movements through radio or satellite monitoring have tremendous potential for the study of whales and other cetaceans. However, to date there have been no published studies on the survival of tagged animals over periods of years or decades. Res...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine mammal science 2011-01, Vol.27 (1), p.217-229
Main Authors: Mizroch, Sally A., Tillman, Michael F., Jurasz, Susan, Straley, Janice M., Von Ziegesar, Olga, Herman, Louis M., Pack, Adam A., Baker, Scott, Darling, Jim, Glockner-Ferrari, Debbie, Ferrari, Mark, Salden, Dan R., Clapham, Phillip J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
approach methodology
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
habitat use
humpback whale
longevity
Mammalia
Marine
Megaptera novaeangliae
migratory destination
photo-identification
Sea water ecosystems
survival
Synecology
Vertebrata
wound healing
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Summary:Invasive tags designed to provide information on animal movements through radio or satellite monitoring have tremendous potential for the study of whales and other cetaceans. However, to date there have been no published studies on the survival of tagged animals over periods of years or decades. Researchers from the National Marine Mammal Laboratory and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution tracked five humpback whales with implanted radio tags in southeastern Alaska in August 1976 and July 1977, and tracked two humpback whales in Prince William Sound, Alaska, in June 1978. All seven of these individually identified humpback whales were resighted at least 20 yr after first being tagged, and five of the seven have been observed for more than 30 yr; some of them are among the most resighted humpback whales in the North Pacific. Photos of tagging sites taken during and subsequent to tagging operations show persistent but superficial scarring and no indication of infection. These pioneering field studies demonstrated both long‐term survival of the whales and the short‐term effects of deploying radio tags, which at the time were larger and more invasive than those typically used today.
ISSN:0824-0469
1748-7692
DOI:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00391.x