Free Tagging Report from Jim Reid Once a manatee has been captured, tagged and released, there may come a time when the scientists will need to locate the manatee again in order to remove the present tag and replace it with another. When they do that in the field, without recapturing the manatee, the procedure is called "free tagging". Why Free Tag? Some of the reasons for free tagging are obvious, such as when a tag is damaged or malfunctioning. Other reasons are simply to replace the battery on the tag, so that tracking can continue even longer, or to change from the PTT/Argos tracking tag a more advance GPS tag. "I would be swimming in the water next to them, and trying to remove the old tag and replace the new one quickly and quietly. We call this process 'Free Tagging'" Credit: USGS-Sirenia   How Is Free Tagging Done? Sirenia Project's Cathy Beck described the general approach scientists follow for retagging in the field. "Once you locate the manatee, you have to enter the water to swim toward it. This may sound easy, but it's not--there's a lot to be mindful of. You need to be very careful to remove the old tag and put on the new one without startling the manatee. If she were to quickly buck away, you could be endangering yourself. After all, most adult manatees weigh about 1000 pounds, and they can swim very fast in a short burst--up to 20 mph! So we swim VERY quietly to approach these manatees close enough to attach the new tag without alarming them. Oh, and one more thing. . . . . . since we are swimming in the water, we also had to keep an eye out for something else--boats and alligators! (For more about alligators and scientists, see Ranger Wayne's story: "You Look Good Enough to Eat" Free Tagging Field Notes Biologist Jim Reid of the Sirenia Project gave us a detailed account of how he free tagged two of the manatees that Journey North was tracking. This is a great description from the field, that gives a real feel for how this process works! "Hi Students- Here are my notes from when I went out into the field to replace the tags on Belvedere and Actual. But unlike the way that we originally capture and tag manatees, this time I wouldn't be recapturing them to do this. Instead, I would be swimming in the water next to them, and trying to remove the old tag and replace the new one quickly and quietly. We call this process "Free Tagging", and I happy to report "mission accomplished". Here are the details on how the process went with Belvedere and Actual. Moving slowly to avoid startling the manatee. Credit: USFWS Belvedere Gets his Tag Replaced "The last news from the Sirenia Project reported that we were no longer receiving signals through the Argos satellite link from Actual's tag. More trouble developed on 1 April when the Argos signals from Belvedere's tag also abruptly stopped. "Belvedere's last locations were from the southern end of Pine Island Sound, the area he recently moved to from the Ten Thousand Islands. Two days later, a resident living along a canal in St James City, Pine Island, saw Belvedere behind his house, with the floating transmitter! Luckily, he reported the sighting to wildlife officials, something we encourage residents to do to help us document specific use areas, and to help solve problems like malfunctioning tags. "I traveled to Pine Island to see if I could sort things out and on Tuesday morning picked up his tag's VHF signal in St. James City. Driving along the residential streets and stopping periodically to track, I soon found Belvedere just entering the canal system with four other manatees. "Reanna Montwheeler, a manatee researcher with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC), soon arrived to assist with what we had thought would be a full day of fieldwork. As luck would have it, Belvedere and his buddies stopped behind the house of Wildlife Officer Darrin Riley, also with the FFWCC. Officer Riley, whose primary job is law enforcement, and Reanna often cooperate with difficult tasks when injured and dead manatees are reported (i.e. contact reporting individuals, verify and assess the manatee's situation, and orchestrate a rescue, or more frequently, recover dead ones to determine the unfortunate manatee's cause of death.) Today, however, was an easier and happier day. "As the manatees rested in the shallow canal, I was able to quietly snorkel close to him, remove his tag from the tether, and attach a new transmitter. To do this, we snorkel very slowly and use special tools to replace the tag as it floats at the surface above the manatee. Spotters on shore or in boats keep an eye on the manatees and help direct the swimmer. "Free tagging is not always easy, but when successful, enables us to continue tracks on well-known individuals and document changes across seasons and years. Credit: USGS-Sirenia   Actual back on line, with a new GPS tag As you know, we stopped receiving Argos signals from Actual on 13 March. While Susan was tracking in late March, she heard the VHF signal for Actual and tracked her to the grass beds off Cape Romano. The tag was floating as it was supposed to and Actual was behaving normally, feeding on seagrass beds with other manatees. When I went south last week, I tracked by boat in the Ten Thousand Islands on 7 April and found Actual near Round Key, the tag still floating fine. Here again I was luckily able to slowly swim to Actual's malfunctioning transmitter and replace it with a working one. I try to not bother them, which makes them swim away. In addition, although some manatees are curious, I do not get too friendly with them because manatees are better off not being tame with people. We are happy to have Actual back on line, this time with a new Argos-linked GPS tag. These new tags record nearly 100 precise GPS positions per day and relay many of these to us through the Argos System, revealing details on their movements. The estuaries are salty now so manatees must move well inland to get a drink. With the new tag, we hope Actual will give us more valuable data on manatee freshwater needs in the Ten Thousand Islands. Tag repairs So, what did we find wrong with the tags? Belvedere's tag had early battery failure. The side of Actual's tag was hit by a boat motor, damaging the satellite transmitter batteries and thus disabling the Argos transmitter. Likewise, in March, Anna's tag was damaged and the tether cut from four propeller strikes. We expect that some tags will be lost or damaged, but these will be repaired and used again. Happily, Belvedere and Actual appear to be fine, and we still have them on-line! Copyright 2004 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form