The Behaviour and Swimming ability of Humpback Whale in Iceland

June 2013 Icelandic whale research report by Yu Akiyama

Research Area: Iceland Húsavík Skjálfandi bay (Northern Part of Iceland: 66° 3′ 0″ N, 17° 19′ 0″ W)

Aim of the study: To investigate the behaviour and swimming ability of baleen whales of Iceland by attaching the acceleration logger and video logger.

Study Period: 2013/May/28~2013/Jun/15

Study Animal: Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae

Materials: 2 tags composed with items below

・Acceleration logger (W1000-3MPD3GT)

　 Parameters: 3-axes acceleration 32Hz, depth, temp, speed 1Hz, Compass 1Hz

・Video logger (DVL-400-I)

・VHF Transmitter

・Suction cup

Result: We succeeded in tagging 2 humpback whales.

First whale: Tagged, June 5, 2013. 16:35 (66° 2'23.99"N, 17°35'19.67"W)

Retrieved, June 6, 2013. 10:47 (66° 4'22.32"N, 17°26'45.57"W)

Attached time, approximately 8 hours (data: accelerometer 8 hrs)

Body size: 13~15m

Second whale: Tagged, June 7, 2013. 13:59 (66° 0'33.54"N, 17°38'40.56"W)

Retrieved, June 8, 2013. 16:54

Attached time, approximately 24 hours (data: acc 8 hrs, video 3 hrs)

Body size: 14~16m

This picture is copyrighted to Maria Iversen, Húsavík Research Center, University of Iceland