Teilmann CTD Whale Sensor
Abstract
Diving ocean predators can be fitted with instruments that record the animal s location, diving depth, and concurrent oceanographic parameters creating "real-time autonomous sampling platform" allowing for data collection from remote or ice covered waters where sampling by conventional ship-based techniques is expensive or impossible. Sampling of oceanographic data, including salinity (conductivity), temperature and depth, by use of instrumented marine mammals is an attractive technique that has been used widely with seals and to a lesser extent with narwhals and belugas. The oceanographic data collected by marine mammals can be incorporated into existing oceanographic monitoring of ocean trends and variability or they can be used as proxies for prey availability and habitat preferences, but also for real-time operational purpose where for instance the effects of salinity on sound transmission is important. The objectives of this project are: to evaluate the reliabilty and quality of oceanographic data collected in arctic ice covered waters by slow swimming bowhead whales and from the open ocean by fast swimming blue and humpback whales. This study will address the objectives by using CTD conductivit tags from Wildlife Computers (WC, www.wildlifecomputers.com, Seattle, USA) and a well-tested version of a CTD tag from Sea Mammal Research Unity (SMRU, www.smru.st-andrews.as.cuk, University of St. Andrews, Scotland) for comparison.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 03, 2017
- Source ID
- N000141712233
Entities
People
- Jonas Teilmann
Organizations
- Aarhus University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy