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Tracking a Swimming Squid

WHOI guest investigator Francesco Caruso, biologist Aran Mooney, and research specialist Alex Bocconcelli (left to right) work with a longfin squid in a tank at WHOI’s Environmental Systems Laboratory. Not visible is a small data-logging tag called an ITAG, which the team attached to the squid’s back with veterinary-grade sutures. In the ocean, sensors inside the ITAG measure light, temperature, and pressure (depth) while accelerometers track the squid’s movement and orientation in the water, giving scientists new insights into the animal’s physiology and behavior. The ITAG releases at a pre-programmed time and floats to the surface for scientists to recover it and its data. (Photo by Paul Caiger, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)