 Bluefin Tuna Invade Google Earth
In a unique partnership, TAG worked with Google to incorporate tagging data in the latest version of Google Earth, which features an interactive, three-dimensional ocean. Users are able to click on individual bluefin tuna in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to view information about the animal, its journey through the ocean, and the tag that recorded it. The highlight is being able to ride on the back of a fish as it swims, experiencing a virtual 3-D, fish-eye view tour of the bluefin’s environment along its migratory path. Bluefin tuna tag data will reach thousands of people through Google Earth’s user-friendly and engaging interface.
Download Google Earth & view Animal Tracking layer.
TAG North Carolina Makes "History"
 In January, we returned for the 14th season to the coast of North Carolina where bluefin are known to aggregate in winter. Of the 1,000 electronic tags deployed by TAG, 85% have been released in NC.
This year we had a cameraman aboard and got extraordinary footage for the History Channel’s Modern Marvels series. Three fish were tagged in one week, and all of them were caught on film. One fish measured over 100 inches—the second largest fish we’ve ever tagged in NC!
Two of the fish were hooked up by other vessels and then transferred to the tagging boat, F/V Sensation. One was from TAG board member John Hill aboard the F/V El Tejano and the other from the F/V Annie C. Professional golfer Curtis Strange was also a member of the TAG fleet—an all-star crew!
We were grateful to the small number of recreational anglers who fished with us. Most are now part of the commercial fleet, which has grown to 100-150 boats representing at least 10 states. Only a few fish were caught per day, interspersed by rare days where a dozen or more were landed. Overall, the catch per unit effort was very low. This is a sign of the precarious state of the bluefin tuna. Interestingly, there seemed to be an excess of large fish, potentially suggestive of a significant "Gulf of Mexico" stock component. We took genetic samples and hope to determine the frequency of the two stocks (Gulf and Mediterranean Sea) in the region.
Visit our blog for more NC highlights, including video of the tagging.
Data Highlight: An archival-tagged bluefin released in North Carolina in 2004 was seized by NOAA enforcement aboard a longline vessel in the Gulf of Mexico last spring. The tag revealed two years of foraging in the eastern Atlantic before the fish returned to the west to spawn, the longest duration in the east by any tagged fish from the western population. |
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