Aloha kākou, As part of an online silent auction to raise funds for Cascadia Research Collective’s marine mammal research and education activities, one of the ‘items’ available are two SPOT (location-only) LIMPET satellite tags, along with deployment arrows and attachment darts, being donated by Wildlife Computers. This is potentially an opportunity for a researcher to obtain a couple of LIMPET tags for a reduced rate. The auction site can be accessed at https://givebutter.com/c/Q6Feaa/auction and online items will be available to bid on until October 13th.
We have been using LIMPET satellite tags in our work in Hawai‘i since 2007 and have deployed over 400 tags on 13 different species (12 species of odontocetes and 1 species of baleen whale). Attachment durations are variable, with median durations for smaller species typically in the range of two weeks (e.g., melon-headed whales – 11 days, pantropical spotted dolphins – 13 days, common bottlenose dolphins – 15 days), and for larger species closer to a month (short-finned pilot whales – 25 days, false killer whales – 32 days). Occasionally we get long-duration outliers – we currently have a SPOT tag deployed on a goose-beaked whale that is still transmitting on day 324. The winning bidder will need to obtain and pay for two ARGOS PTT IDs (and potentially have to create a new Argos account with CLS, if they don't have one already), and ensure that the PTT IDs reach Wildlife Computers at least two weeks before the shipping date. Shipping will require at least 8-weeks notice for the auction winner, and the winner will need to contact Wildlife Computers to initiate the process. The tags and accessories will not be covered under the Wildlife Computers warranty. I will be happy to consult (for free) with the auction winner regarding tag programming and deployment. It is important to note that LIMPET tags are challenging to deploy and the auction winner should have some tag deployment experience, and the necessary permits for deploying tags in the area where the work is to be undertaken. For those wanting more information on best practices for tagging, I would recommend Andrews et al. (2019), available at https://apps-afsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/documents/BestPracGuidlinesCetaceanTag_Andrews_2019_508.pdf We have a number of papers and reports on our Hawai‘i publication page (link below) that use LIMPET satellite tag data, but I will particularly note a paper published last week entitled “Incorporating telemetry information into capture-recapture analyses improves precision and accuracy of abundance estimates given spatiotemporally biased recapture effort”, by Badger et al., since it illustrates a new use of telemetry data in abundance estimation. This paper is open-access and available from the Methods in Ecology and Evolution web site at https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.14408 Robin -- Robin W. Baird, Ph.D. Hawai‘i Program Director Cascadia Research Collective<https://cascadiaresearch.org/> 218 ½ W. 4th Avenue Olympia, WA 98501 USA Cascadia on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/CascadiaResearch/> Updates from our October Kona field project<https://cascadiaresearch.org/hawaii-update/oct2024/> Recent publications on our work<https://cascadiaresearch.org/hawaii_publications/>: Badger, J.J., D.S. Johnson, R.W. Baird, A.L. Bradford, M.A. Kratofil, S.D. Mahaffy, and E.M. Oleson. 2024. Incorporating telemetry information into capture-recapture analyses improves precision and accuracy of abundance estimates given spatiotemporally biased recapture effort. Methods in Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14408. Baird, R.W., S.D. Mahaffy, B. Hancock-Hanser, T. Cullins, K.L. West, M.A. Kratofil, D.M. Barrios, A.E. Harnish, P.C. Johnson. 2024. Long-term strategies for studying rare species: results and lessons from a multi-species study of odontocetes around the main Hawaiian Islands. Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC23027. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC23027 Mahaffy, S.D., R.W. Baird, A.E. Harnish, T. Cullins, S.H. Stack, J.J. Currie, A.L. Bradford, D.R. Salden, and K.K. Martien. 2023. Identifying social clusters of endangered main Hawaiian Islands false killer whales. Endangered Species Research 51:249-268. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01258 Harnish, A.E., R.W. Baird, E. Corsi, A.M. Gorgone, D. Perrine, A. Franco, C. Hankins, and E. Sepeta. 2023. Long-term associations of common bottlenose dolphins with a fish farm in Hawai‘i and impacts on other protected species. Marine Mammal Science 39(3):794-810. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13010 Kratofil, M.A., A.E. Harnish, S.D. Mahaffy, E.E. Henderson, A.L. Bradford, S.W. Martin, B.A. Lagerquist, D.M. Palacios, E.M. Oleson, and R.W. Baird. 2023. Biologically important areas II for cetaceans within U.S. and adjacent waters — Hawai‘i region. Frontiers in Marine Sciences, 10:1053581. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1053581
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