Radio tagging of finback whales : Iceland, June-July 1980

• Main Author: Watkins, William A.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1981
• Subjects: Finback whale; Animal radio tracking; Balaenoptera physalus; Greenland; Denmark Strait; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9620

In June and July, 1980, finback whales (Balaenoptera physalus) were radio tagged in the waters west of Iceland. One double-tagged finback was tracked continuously with shipboard receiving gear for 9 1/2 days, for over 2095 km, during which it swam with from one to seven companion finbacks to within 130 km of Greenland. The tagging and tracking systems worked well. New behavioral information about finbacks was gathered, and new questions were raised concerning this populations's movements and distribution. Whale integument is discussed and the potential retention of transcutaneous whale tags is analyzed. Partially funded by the Bureau of Land Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior under Contract AA851-CT0- 23 and the Oceanic Biology Program of the U.S. Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-79-C-0071; NR 083-004, the Marine Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland and the Iceland Whaling Company .