One day after achieving our 60 day goal for tracking, Yaana is the only Franciscana continuing to send signals. She remains outside the mouth of the bay. Both Lea and Roberto had used about 60% of their possible transmissions, and battery strength was still good at the time of their final transmissions.
This suggests several possibilities:
- shedding of the tag, as designed/planned,
- damage to the tag, such as antenna breakage (Wildlife Computers had made the antennae a bit weaker but more flexible this year) that precludes transmissions,
- loss or movement of attachment pins leading to repositioning of the tag on the fin such that the seawater switch is unable to function, or
- loss of the animal (to sharks, orcas, fishing gear, etc.).
Observations of the animals, with photographic documentation of dorsal fins, will be crucial to trying to figure this out, looking for tags and for animals with marks from where the tags used to be attached. Pablo's team should be on the water soon to do this.
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