Narwhales for Science
Question: how do you study the icy seas North of Greenland when no diver in his or her right mind wants to dip into them waters - despite their importance in regulating N. Europe weather?
Answer: Recruit 10 narwhals over the course of a year and stick GPS tags on them that clock time, depth and temperature records. Only problem is getting the tags on the whales, which are armed with 9 foot tusks and can dive more than a mile deep. Apparently they buck like broncos when nabbed in their nets.
Still, it's great to see some creatures besides snakes, seals and sharks joining science's animal army.
psst... very cool, but I don't think you mean "dive up to a mile below water temperature" - there seem to be some words missing
Posted by: minouette | April 18, 2007 at 08:34 AM
Cool story. Other cool additions to the science army include squid, albatross, tuna, sea turtles, sunfish and four other kinds of whales (blue, fin, humpback and sperm, that is)http://www.toppcensus.org/
Posted by: Hugh | April 18, 2007 at 10:07 PM
Typo changed.
Posted by: Katie | April 19, 2007 at 05:50 AM
Anne: ¨how do you study the icy seas North of Greenland when no diver in his or her right mind wants to dip into them waters¨
Looks like we are gonna need to ´recruit´ more Narwhales, that ice is getting pretty thick.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070418.wships0418/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070418.wships0418
¨worst conditions [worst pack ice] for twenty years¨. Bad for the ships, good for the polar bears though.
I blame Global warming!
Posted by: APL | April 23, 2007 at 12:03 AM