Marine Mammals and Megafauna in Irish Waters - Behaviour, Distribution and Habitat Use- WP3 Biotelemetry of Marine Megafauna in Irish Waters

Abstract

Biotelemetry is the transmission of information from biological organisms through the atmosphere by radio waves. It encompasses a wide range of devices that can record environmental variables while attached to an animal, such as depth, salinity and temperature, while permitting the recording and transmitting of the position of an animal, commonly referred to as tracking. A review of biotelemetry, with reference to relevant species in Ireland, is presented. Although a number of marine species have been tagged and tracked in Ireland, these studies were generally of short duration or involved small numbers of individuals. However, these studies have shown that tracking marine megafauna in Ireland can be successful and that there is great potential for biotelemetry.