ORCID

Abstract

Animal-borne instruments are essential research tools for ecologists and physiologists. An increasing number of studies have shown impacts of carrying a tag on behaviour and energetics, which can have implications for animal welfare and data validity. Such impacts are a result of the additional mass and/or drag loads, with the latter requiring empirical measurements or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to estimate. To quantify and effectively minimize tag impacts from drag, a novel combined empirical and CFD approach is required. Here, we demonstrate such an approach using captive phocid seals and the widely used Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) Instrumentation Group GPS/GSM tag. We (i) show a significant change in the behaviour of grey seals when carrying a tag (gen 1; associated with 16.4% additional drag); (ii) redesigned the tag (gen 2) resulting in a lower additional drag of 8.6%; (iii) show significant differences in behaviour when carrying a gen 2 compared to gen 1 tag, demonstrating that the redesign successfully reduced impact; and (iv) observed changes in the swim speed of seals that were consistent with predictions from CFD estimates of drag. The gen 2 instrument is now commercially available. This non-trivial case study should pave the way for similar studies in other taxa and species.

Publication Date

2024-11-06

Publication Title

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

291

Issue

2034

ISSN

0962-8452

Keywords

3 Rs, biologging, CFD, diving animals, tag effects, telemetry

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10.1098/rspb.2024.1441" data-hide-no-mentions="true">

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