Counting the blue whale population is a crucial issue. Without a correct option to document their existence, scientists is not going to find a way to persuade the federal government to introduce appropriate regulations to guard the biggest mammals on Earth. This is why the blue whale tagging project is crucial.
However, the traditional way of tagging blue whales is dangerous. Scientists must get as near the whale as possible and shoot a marker from a ship.
This method has two conditions for achievement: the boat have to be stable enough for the shooter to take the shot, and the shooter must find a way to exactly aim on the whale. These two conditions carry a really high risk of failure. If they miss, the researchers could lose $5,000, which suggests wasting plenty of money and energy.
A breakthrough in whale tagging
That’s why marine scientists at Konservasi Indonesia recently announced they’ve found a greater option to tag whales.
said Mohamad Iqbal Herwata, senior species conservation manager at Conservation Indonesia Times of the Strait that the successful deployment of a low-impact minimally transcutaneous electronic transmitter (LIMPET) using drones represented a significant breakthrough.
This deployment of whale tagging drones goals to not only survey whale populations but additionally track their activity and migration routes across the ocean. The LIMPET tag itself is a form of satellite tag that may remain on marine mammals for several months.
The drone method is a lot better since it uses precise coordinates and automatic tracking aimed toward the whale’s hump. Therefore, scientists can send LIMPET from a greater distance.
It minimizes disturbance and doesn’t alert the whale. This method can be believed to be less invasive and prevents tissue damage and stress within the whales.
Once successfully tagged, scientists are in a position to track the whale’s tag transmission over a distance of roughly 2,000 km, or roughly 10 days of transmission. Thanks to this success, scientists can finally start observing how whales roam the region.
“For the primary time we’re beginning to see the complete picture of how minke blue whales move across national borders, from Indonesia to East Timor, the Lesser Sunda Landscape and beyond. This helps us find ways to raised protect them,” he said.
This breakthrough also opens up the potential for studying the whales’ southward journey, as existing data only tells us how whales move north from Western Australia. Mapping all the travel route means scientists can push authorities to ascertain marine protected areas (MPAs) more rigorously.
Why tracking matters beyond science
The minke whale is a subspecies of the blue whale that may grow as much as 24 meters in length. To put this into perspective, lets say two city buses driving around town. That’s how big a whale is.
To grow so large, whales need an enormous supply of food. They need to seek out places to feast and places to rest. The ability to trace these patterns of behavior is important to MPA regulations.
Furthermore, a deep understanding of whale behavior may help local communities along the route access sustainable financing and long-term management support to guard the realm. These funds could be used for ecotourism, sustainable business projects and the establishment of conservation businesses. These advantages go far beyond easy observations of marine animals.
Konservasi Indonesia (formerly a branch of Conservation International Indonesia) is an Indonesian non-governmental foundation that supports sustainable development and environmental protection in Indonesia.
This non-governmental organization has a decades-old repute for having the ability to mix conservation initiatives with sustainable social and ecological empowerment in several regions of Indonesia, comparable to Papua, Sumatra and Java.
