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Blue Whale Satellite Tagging - Perth Canyon Western Australia (2009-04-14)
I was fortunate to join the Australian Marine Mammal Centre's Pygmy Blue Whale satellite tagging expedition to the Perth Canyon aboard Whalesong II during the first week of April.
The Perth Canyon lies 40-50 NM offshore the WA coast and is the ancestral mouth of the Swan River. The canyon acts as a concentrator for krill (Euphasia recurva) and attracts Pygmy Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) to feed during the Summer and Autumn months.
The whales feed at depths of 300-500 metres. Dive times are around 8 to 15 minutes. Surface times are usually 2-3 minutes with 3-25 blows. It's a challenging operation with such a short surface interval. The seas are rarely calm and due to the speed at which these ocean athletes travel, a RIB is needed to deploy the tags. Biopsy samples are taken at the same time.
21 whales were sighted over the week and 3 tags were successfully deployed. Little is known of their wide-ranging oceanic peregrinations and each tag builds on a vital body of knowledge.
Whalesong II is operated by Curt & Mich Jenner of the Centre for Whale Research WA.
The photograph shows the team ready to deploy a satellite tag.
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