Placing a tag on the largest shark on the planet might seem like a daunting task but marine scientists have perfected the task.
“How do you place a temporary ‘spot tag’ on a whale shark?” writes Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on LinkedIn. “The answer is simple: just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”
To keep up with whale sharks – which can travel at around three miles an hour – the scientists must be strong swimmers.
In the video, MIT-WHOI grad student Jaida Elcock can be seen diving below the surface of the water and attaching a tag to the huge animal’s dorsal fin. This will give the scientists data on where the shark swims as it makes its way through the ocean.
See the whale shark being tagged off the coast of New England. Credit: Jaida Elcock/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The researchers hope the information they glean will help them understand why the sharks visit the continental shelf off the coast of New England, USA.
The tag is programmed to release on its own after a while. “Each tag carries a built-in radio transmitter, so once it pops off, Elcock and her team can track it down and retrieve the data,” explains WHOI.
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Top image: whale shark tagging. Credit: Jaida Elcock/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution