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Tagging Pilot Whales

The shiny black skin of a long-finned pilot whale reflects the image of researchers working from an inflatable boat in the Alboran Sea off the Spanish coast. The researchers studying these animals use long poles to affix a non-invasive digital tagging devices that record the animals’ vocalizations, as well as data on their movement, including depth, pitch, roll, and heading. Long-finned pilot whales are found around the world and, although they are often visible at the surface, scientists don’t know how many exist in the wild.(Photo by Rebecca Jewell, taken under US Marine Mammal Permit: 14241=01, issued to Peter Tyack, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)