Whale tags go missing: Keep your eyes peeled on Cape Cod beaches and at sea
Attention Cape Cod beachcombers and boaters: be on the lookout for two missing whale tags. Scientists need your help!
The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary whale research team put out the call for public assistance on Aug. 1 after the colorful, hand-sized tags disappeared in late July. One had been affixed to a humpback whale named Sundown north of Provincetown and the other tag had been attached to a humpback whale named Pixar.
The whales were tagged within the 842-square-mile sanctuary, which stretches from three miles north of Cape Cod to three miles south of Cape Ann.
"These are probably the coolest tags on the planet," said Dave Wiley, marine ecologist and research coordinator at the sanctuary, in a phone interview.
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Tags hold research data
According to a release from the sanctuary, "the units, each the approximate size of an adult hand, have antennae at the 'head,' four suction-cup feet, and look somewhat like toy bugs."
Wiley said the tags are temporary, attached only by the suction cups, and stay on the whale for a short time.
"The longest we've had is about 40 hours," he said.
During that limited time period, the tags are hard at work, recording data including whale location and the sounds they make. Some tags have the capacity to record video.
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The data can help scientists make suggestions on how to decrease ship strikes and entanglements, Wiley said. But the information is stored on the tags, not transmitted to shore, so unless the tags are found, the data is lost. Plus, the tags are kind of pricey: Wiley said some of them can cost upwards of $15,000.
Whale tag found last spring
When everything is working smoothly, the detached tags send out radio pings, which scientists use to locate and retrieve them. In this case, the "tags may have drifted beyond the search area or their pingers may not be working," the sanctuary release stated.
On the hopeful side, a tag lost this spring was found on a beach in Truro by folks cleaning up marine debris.
If you happen to come upon a tag, contact the sanctuary at stellwagen@noaa.gov or call 781-545-8026. Anne Smrcina, the sanctuary's education and outreach coordinator, said she would send tag finders two sanctuary posters, both suitable for framing, as a gesture of appreciation.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod beachgoers and boaters: keep an eye out for missing whale tags
