The Log | School News

Whale Tag: three Nicholas researchers help track humpbacks and other endangered whale species

Chasing Moby Dick’s descendants through open water in a small, inflatable boat might seem like a perilous undertaking for scientists. But for three Nicholas School researchers who took part in a multi-institutional effort this summer to tag and track humpbacks and other endangered whale species off the New England coast, the rewards of being part of an important scientific undertaking far outweighed the dangers.

“Tagging these animals helps us unlock the mysteries of their underwater behavior and develop ways to protect them from some of the common dangers they face, like being struck by ships or entangled in fishing lines or nets,” says Patrick N. Halpin, Gabel Associate Professor of the Practice of Marine Geospatial Ecology.

Halpin joined Ari Friedlaender, a postdoctoral research associate at the Duke University Marine Lab, and Elliott Hazen, a doctoral student at the Marine Lab, on the expedition.

The tagging took place in July in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. Whales migrate to Stellwagen Bank from the tropics in spring and summer to feed on fatty sand eels.

Electronic tagging is the latest technology marine scientists are using to study creatures they cannot easily observe or follow.The tag, about the size of a paperback novel, contains sensors and a hard drive. It measures the direction of whales’movements and records their sounds, allowing scientists to see and listen as whales feed and interact underwater. The tags attach painlessly to the whales with suction cups, and then release themselves automatically several hours later and float to the surface so scientists can retrieve them.

Researchers from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the Whale Center of New England, the University of New Hampshire and Cornell University also took part in the tagging.The data collected will be used to create computer-generated, threedimensional animations of whales’ undersea movements and behaviors.These animations, along with other findings from the expedition, will be posted online and shared with policymakers, fishermen, conservationists, students and other scientists.

Humpbacks can grow to 52 feet in length and weigh up to 50 tons. Known for their curious personalities, beautiful songs and flamboyant tail slapping, they’ve been listed as an endangered species since 1970.

North Atlantic right whales also summer at Stellwagen Bank. Similar in size and sociability to humpbacks, they too are endangered.Their worldwide population has dwindled to an estimated 350 animals.

“The more we add to our knowledge base about these magnificent creatures, the better we will be able to help ensure their survival,” Friedlaender says.

Last year, he notes, scientists on the expedition observed that whales roll back and forth on the sea floor while eating, putting them at risk of being caught in the floating lines lobstermen used to connect their submerged traps.This discovery helped convince the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries to require lobstermen to switch to lines that remain flush on the ocean bottom,where whales are less likely to become entangled in them.

—Tim Lucas, Nicholas School