(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1979-12)
Watkins, William A.; Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe; Moore, Karen E.
The 23 October to 13 November 1979 Venezuelan radio tagging and
tracking experiments on whales (Balaenoptera edeni, Fig. 1) provided
essential field tests of the new modifications to the WHOI radio whale
tag (see list of tag reports), and the chance to try it on a new
species. We found that we could approach and tag these whales from a
slow (4 to 6 kt) vessel. Good radio tracking with automatic direction
finding equipment was possible within 12 to 20 km, with longer ranges
probable. In addition, the radio tags provided new information about the
behavior of these whales.
