Articles

Testing tag attachments to increase the attachment duration of archival tags on baleen whales

As biologging technology has advanced to study whale behavior, various tag attachment methods have been developed. Suction cup attachments were developed for short-term (<24 h) studies using high-resolution ar...

Authors: Angela R. Szesciorka, John Calambokidis and James T. Harvey

A week in the life of a pygmy blue whale: migratory dive depth overlaps with large vessel drafts

The use of multi-sensor tags is increasingly providing insights into the behavior of whales. However, due to limitations in tag attachment duration and the transmission bandwidth of the Argos system, little is...

Authors: Kylie Owen, Curt S. Jenner, Micheline-Nicole M. Jenner and Russel D. Andrews

Using an active Radio Frequency Identification Real-Time Location System to remotely monitor animal movement in zoos

Radio and satellite telemetry collars have been used across taxa, including with elephants, in situ for decades to collect data used for various analyses. To quantify the movement patterns of African elephants, L...

Authors: Nancy L. Scott, Bernard Hansen, Chase A. LaDue, Carlson Lam, Albert Lai and Lowell Chan

Active acoustic tracking suggests that soft sediment fishes can show site attachment: a preliminary assessment of the movement patterns of the blue-spotted flathead (Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus)

It is generally considered that on relatively homogenous marine soft sediment habitats, such as sand, fish are unlikely to show site attachment. This poses challenges for management and the evaluation of the e...

Authors: Lachlan C. Fetterplace, Andrew R. Davis, Joseph M. Neilson, Matthew D. Taylor and Nathan A. Knott

Contrasts in the movements and habitat use of juvenile and adult white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Guadalupe Island, Mexico

Although the effort in the study of white sharks in Mexico is rapidly elucidating adult biology, almost nothing is known about the juveniles. Current understanding of this life history is based largely on the ...

Authors: E. Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla, A. Peter Klimley, Felipe Galván-Magaña and Alex Antoniou

Bringing data to the surface: recovering data loggers for large sample sizes from marine vertebrates

Despite the utility of data loggers for studying the fine-scale behavior and energetics of marine organisms, most studies using these tools have had relatively low sample sizes due to various factors including...

Authors: Karissa O. Lear and Nicholas M. Whitney

Neckband or backpack? Differences in tag design and their effects on GPS/accelerometer tracking results in large waterbirds

GPS and accelerometer tracking presently revolutionises the fields of ecology and animal behaviour. However, the effects of tag characteristics like weight, attachment and data quality on study outcomes and an...

Authors: Andrea Kölzsch, Marjolein Neefjes, Jude Barkway, Gerhard J. D. M. Müskens, Frank van Langevelde, Willem F. de Boer, Herbert H. T. Prins, Brian H. Cresswell and Bart A. Nolet

Post-tagging behaviour and habitat use in shortnose sturgeon measured with high-frequency accelerometer and PSATs

External tagging of fish using pop-up satellite tags (PSATs) can cause trauma and stress associated with capture, handling, tagging injury and tag placement that impedes body function and mobility, and these c...

Authors: Franziska Broell, Andrew D. Taylor, Matthew K. Litvak, Andre Bezanson and Christopher T. Taggart

Pitching stability of diving seabirds during underwater locomotion: a comparison among alcids and a penguin

In animals, recoil motion resulting from underwater propulsion can destabilise trajectory and decrease locomotory performance. The posture of diving seabirds fluctuates simultaneously with their appendage beat...

Authors: Takuji Noda, Dale M. Kikuchi, Akinori Takahashi, Hiromichi Mitamura and Nobuaki Arai

An animal-borne active acoustic tag for minimally invasive behavioral response studies on marine mammals

There is a variety of evidence that increased anthropogenic noise (e.g., shipping, explosions, sonar) has a measureable effect on marine mammal species. Observed impacts range in severity from brief interrupti...

Authors: Selene Fregosi, Holger Klinck, Markus Horning, Daniel P. Costa, David Mann, Kenneth Sexton, Luis A. Hückstädt, David K. Mellinger and Brandon L. Southall

Quantifying the effects of sensor coatings on body temperature measurements

A characterization of an organism’s thermoregulatory ability informs our understanding of its physiology, ecology and behavior. Biotelemetry studies on thermoregulation increasingly rely on in situ body temper...

Authors: Stephanie Snyder and Peter J. S. Franks

Environmental influence on the seasonal movements of satellite-tracked ocean sunfish Mola mola in the north-east Atlantic

Determining the habitat use of mobile marine species is important for understanding responses to climate change and aids the implementation of management and conservation measures. Inference of preferred habi...

Authors: Lara L. Sousa, Nuno Queiroz, Gonzalo Mucientes, Nicolas E. Humphries and David W. Sims

Toward a national animal telemetry network for aquatic observations in the United States

Animal telemetry is the science of elucidating the movements and behavior of animals in relation to their environment or habitat. Here, we focus on telemetry of aquatic species (marine mammals, sharks, fish, s...

Authors: Barbara A. Block, Christopher M. Holbrook, Samantha E. Simmons, Kim N. Holland, Jerald S. Ault, Daniel P. Costa, Bruce R. Mate, Andrew C. Seitz, Michael D. Arendt, John C. Payne, Behzad Mahmoudi, Peter Moore, James M. Price, J. Jacob Levenson, Doug Wilson and Randall E. Kochevar

A method of spatial correction for acoustic positioning biotelemetry

It has been stated that there is a certain amount of intrinsic error inherent in all remote sensing methods, including acoustic telemetry, which has gained popularity in both freshwater and marine environments...

Authors: C. Charles, D. M. Gillis, L. E. Hrenchuk and P. J. Blanchfield

Spatial and temporal variation in positioning probability of acoustic telemetry arrays: fine-scale variability and complex interactions

As popularity of positional acoustic telemetry systems increases, so does the need to better understand how they perform in real-world applications, where variation in performance can bias study conclusions. ...

Authors: Thomas R. Binder, Christopher M. Holbrook, Todd A. Hayden and Charles C. Krueger

Pressure sensor calibrations of acoustic telemetry transmitters

Acoustic transmitters are widely used to obtain information on the spatial ecology of fish and other aquatic animals. Some transmitters contain pressure sensors to estimate depth, which are factory-calibrated...

Authors: Maxime A. N. Veilleux, Nicolas W. R. Lapointe, Dale M. Webber, Tom R. Binder, Paul J. Blanchfield, Liset Cruz-Font, Mathew G. Wells, Martin H. Larsen, Susan E. Doka and Steven J. Cooke

Baffling telemetry detections can be useful: an acoustic receiver design to monitor organisms along reserve boundaries and ecotones

Many biotelemetry studies seek to detect movement of organisms across reserve boundaries or between adjacent habitat areas. Our objective was to enhance this capability in studies of aquatic organisms that a...

Authors: Matthew S. Kendall, Mark E. Monaco and Arliss Winship

A plea for standards in reporting data collected by animal-borne electronic devices

In recent years, there has been significant investment in collaborative e-infrastructures to support biotelemetry research. Whilst these e-infrastructures are rapidly growing in size and sophistication, the cu...

Authors: Hamish A. Campbell, Ferdi Urbano, Sarah Davidson, Holger Dettki and Francesca Cagnacci

Ghosts in the data: false detections in VEMCO pulse position modulation acoustic telemetry monitoring equipment

False-positive data (better known as “false detections”) in VEMCO VR2 acoustic telemetry monitoring studies that use pulse position modulation coding can cause biased or erroneous outcomes in data analysis. To...

Authors: Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Charlie Huveneers, Andre Steckenreuter, Katherine Tattersall, Xavier Hoenner, Rob Harcourt and Michelle R. Heupel

Why do satellite transmitters on emperor penguins stop transmitting?

Investigation of early transmission failure from animal-borne, satellite transmitters should reveal vital information about the reliability of the technology, and the risk of application to the animal. Current...

Authors: Gerald L. Kooyman, Birgitte I. McDonald and Kimberly T. Goetz

Home range and habitat use of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the northern Gulf of Mexico

For imperiled marine turtles, use of satellite telemetry has proven to be an effective method in determining long distance movements. However, the large size of the tag, relatively high cost and low spatial re...

Authors: Margaret M. Lamont, Ikuko Fujisaki, Brail S. Stephens and Caitlin Hackett

In the belly of the beast: resolving stomach tag data to link temperature, acceleration and feeding in white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)

Motion detecting archival data loggers such as accelerometers have become increasingly important in animal biotelemetry and offer unique insights into animal behavior, energetics, and kinematics. However, chal...

Authors: Salvador J. Jorgensen, Adrian C. Gleiss, Paul E. Kanive, Taylor K. Chapple, Scot D. Anderson, Juan M. Ezcurra, W. Tyler Brandt and Barbara A. Block

Tag attachment success can be temperature dependent: a case study of the chub mackerel Scomber japonicus

Electronic tags are increasingly used in the studies of fish, but the attachment of electronic tags may affect their behaviour and physiology. While a number of studies have shown effects of electronic tags on...

Authors: Tohya Yasuda, Naoki Nagano, Hajime Kitano, Hirofumi Ohga, Takeshi Sakai, Seiji Ohshimo and Michiya Matsuyama

Bias correction and uncertainty characterization of Dead-Reckoned paths of marine mammals

Biologgers incorporating triaxial magnetometers and accelerometers can record animal movements at infra-second frequencies. Such data allow the Dead-Reckoned (DR) path of an animal to be reconstructed at high ...

Authors: Yang Liu, Brian C. Battaile, Andrew W. Trites and James V. Zidek

The use of external electronic tags on fish: an evaluation of tag retention and tagging effects

External tagging of fish with electronic tags has been used for decades for a wide range of marine and freshwater species. In the early years of fish telemetry research, it was the most commonly used attachmen...

Authors: Niels Jepsen, Eva B. Thorstad, Torgeir Havn and Martyn C. Lucas

Estimating total body heat dissipation in air and water from skin surface heat flux telemetry in Weddell seals

Accurate estimates of thermoregulatory costs in air and water are necessary to predict the impacts of changing habitats to individuals and populations of ice-obligate seals. Investigations that would provide s...

Authors: Allyson G. Hindle, Markus Horning and Jo-Ann E. Mellish

First autonomous recording of in situ dissolved oxygen from free-ranging fish

Biologging technology has enhanced our understanding of the ecology of marine animals and has been central to identifying how oceanographic conditions drive patterns in their distribution and behavior. Among t...

Authors: Daniel M. Coffey and Kim N. Holland

An autonomous GPS geofence alert system to curtail avian fatalities at wind farms

Wind energy developments are increasingly proliferating as nations seek to secure clean and renewable energy supplies. Wind farms have serious impacts on avifauna populations through injuries sustained by coll...

Authors: James K. Sheppard, Andrew McGann, Michael Lanzone and Ronald R. Swaisgood

Effects of acoustic tag implantation on lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens: lack of evidence for changes in behavior

An assumption of studies using acoustic telemetry is that surgical implantation of acoustic transmitters or tags does not alter behavior of tagged individuals. Evaluating the validity of this assumption can be...

Authors: Darryl W. Hondorp, Christopher M. Holbrook and Charles C. Krueger

A dawn peak in the occurrence of ‘knifing behaviour’ in blue sharks

Knifing is a behaviour whereby a shark swims directly at the surface with its dorsal fin out of the water. While this behaviour has been reported in a number of species, information on the frequency and timing...

Authors: Thomas K. Doyle, Ashley Bennison, Mark Jessopp, Damien Haberlin and Luke A. Harman

Can accelerometry be used to distinguish between flight types in soaring birds?

Accelerometry has been used to identify behaviours through the quantification of body posture and motion for a range of species moving in different media. This technique has not been applied to flight behaviou...

Authors: H. J. Williams, E. L. C. Shepard, O. Duriez and S. A. Lambertucci

From high-resolution to low-resolution dive datasets: a new index to quantify the foraging effort of marine predators

In the last decade, thousands of satellite-relayed data loggers (SRDLs) have been deployed, providing large datasets on marine predator movement patterns at sea and their diving behaviour. However, the latter ...

Authors: Karine Heerah, Mark Hindell, Christophe Guinet and Jean-Benoît Charrassin

A system for automatic recording of social behavior in a free-living wild house mouse population

Our research focuses on mechanisms that promote and stabilize social behavior, fitness consequences of cooperation, and how interactions with conspecifics structure groups and populations. To this end, we stud...

Authors: Barbara König, Anna K. Lindholm, Patricia C. Lopes, Akos Dobay, Sally Steinert and Frank Jens-Uwe Buschmann

Development and field testing a satellite-linked fluorometer for marine vertebrates

Understanding the responses of marine vertebrates to spatial and temporal variability of primary productivity is fundamental for their conservation and for predicting how they will be affected by climate chang...

Authors: Michelle E. Lander, Todd Lindstrom, Matthew Rutishauser, Albert Franzheim and Melinda Holland

Energy savings due to the use of shallow body temperature reduction in overwintering Northern Cardinals

Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are able to endure drastic seasonal variations in ambient temperature. Many endotherms in these conditions utilize heterothermy (e.g., torpor) to conserve energy by adju...

Authors: Paul J. Schaeffer, Maria C. Komer and Keely R. Corder

Anthropogenic modifications to a barrier island influence Bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) movements in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Barrier islands are dynamic features of the northern Gulf of Mexico that are affected by natural processes and more frequently, anthropogenic disturbances. In addition to providing a barrier from storms, these...

Authors: Andrea M. Kroetz, Sean P. Powers, J. Marcus Drymon and Kyeong Park

Challenges of measuring body temperatures of free-ranging birds and mammals

The thermal physiology of most birds and mammals is characterised by considerable spatial and temporal variation in body temperature. Body temperature is, therefore, a key parameter in physiological, behaviour...

Authors: D. J. McCafferty, S. Gallon and A. Nord

Assessing fine-scale diel movement patterns of an exploited coral reef fish

Understanding movement patterns of species requires that the spatial and temporal scales of experimental designs are appropriate to the proposed ecological questions. Previous research on large-scale movements...

Authors: Leanne M. Currey, Michelle R. Heupel, Colin A. Simpfendorfer and Ashley J. Williams

Images as proximity sensors: the incidence of conspecific foraging in Antarctic fur seals

Although there have been recent advances in the development of animal-attached ‘proximity’ tags to remotely record the interactions of multiple individuals, the efficacy of these devices depends on the instrum...

Authors: Sascha K. Hooker, Tatsiana Barychka, Mark J. Jessopp and Iain J. Staniland

Two methods of radio transmitter attachment and their effects on the behavior and energetics of captive long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis) during winter

Attachment of external devices can have negative consequences for the health and fitness of subjects, but these effects are often overlooked. In preparation for a field study with small sea ducks, we investiga...

Authors: Manfred R. Enstipp, January Frost, Tuula E. Hollmén, Russel D. Andrews and Charles Frost

Application of a computer vision technique to animal-borne video data: extraction of head movement to understand sea turtles’ visual assessment of surroundings

An animal-borne video recording system has recently been developed to study the behavior of free-ranging animals. In contrast to other types of sensor data (i.e., acceleration), video images offer the advantag...

Authors: Junichi Okuyama, Kana Nakajima, Kenta Matsui, Yuichi Nakamura, Kazuaki Kondo, Takahiro Koizumi and Nobuaki Arai

Improving Argos Doppler location using multiple-model smoothing

Argos is a dedicated system for geo-localization and data collection of platform terminal transmitters (PTTs). The system exploits a constellation of polar-orbiting satellites recording the messages transmitte...

Authors: Rémy Lopez, Jean-Pierre Malardé, Patrick Danès and Philippe Gaspar

ITAG: an eco-sensor for fine-scale behavioral measurements of soft-bodied marine invertebrates

Soft-bodied marine invertebrates comprise a keystone component of ocean ecosystems; however, we know little of their behaviors and physiological responses within their natural habitat. Quantifying ocean condit...

Authors: T. Aran Mooney, Kakani Katija, K. Alex Shorter, Thomas Hurst, Jorge Fontes and Pedro Afonso

Using a multi-criteria approach to assess post-release recovery periods in behavioural studies: study of a fish telemetry project in the Seine Estuary

Biotelemetry has many advantages for monitoring fish behaviour. However, the accuracy of results can be impacted by changes in fish behaviour following tagging and other forms of human intervention. Different ...

Authors: C Le Pichon, J Coustillas and E Rochard

Diel patterns in three-dimensional use of space by sea snakes

The study of animal movement and use of space have traditionally focused on horizontal and vertical movements separately. However, this may limit the interpretation of results of such behaviours in a three-dim...

Authors: Vinay Udyawer, Colin A Simpfendorfer and Michelle R Heupel

Erratum to: Does estimator choice influence our ability to detect changes in home-range size?

Authors: Johannes Signer, Niko Balkenhol, Mark Ditmer and John Fieberg

Processing and visualising association data from animal-borne proximity loggers

With increasing interest in animal social networks, field biologists have started exploring the use of advanced tracking technologies for mapping social encounters in free-ranging subjects. Proximity logging, ...

Authors: E. M. Bettaney, R. James, J. J. H. St Clair and C. Rutz

Linking northern fur seal behavior with prey distributions: the impact of temporal mismatch between predator studies and prey surveys

An essential part of foraging ecology research is identifying how the distribution and abundance of prey influence predator behavior. However, in marine systems, temporal or spatial mismatches often exist betw...

Authors: Carey E Kuhn, Jeremy T Sterling and Tonya K Zeppelin

Hydrodynamic handicaps and organizational complexity in the foraging behavior of two free-ranging penguin species

Animal movement exhibits self-similarity across a range of both spatial and temporal scales reminiscent of statistical fractals. Stressors are known to induce changes in these statistical patterns of behavior,...

Authors: Xavier Meyer, Andrew J J MacIntosh, Akiko Kato, André Chiaradia and Yan Ropert-Coudert

Novel foraging strategies observed in a growing leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) population at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Leopard seals are apex predators that can alter the community structure of Antarctic coastal ecosystems. Previous behavioral studies were limited to land-based, daytime observations of foraging leopard seals....

Authors: Douglas J Krause, Michael E Goebel, Gregory J Marshall and Kyler Abernathy