Ashley Pearson at Año Nuevo State Reserve, CA-- Last Thursday we went to recover Featherfoot’s tags from Año Nuevo only to find that someone else had already claimed them...A populations of barnacles had attached themselves to her head and back tags giving her some pieces of flair to show off!

Featherfoot with her satellite tag and the hitchhikers (barnacles) she picked up on her journey! Photo: Nicole Teutschel
Featherfoot had 3 tags on her, a satellite tag which tracks where she goes in the ocean, a radio tag that enables us to locate her on shore, and a time-depth recorder tag (TDR).

Cory Champagne preparing to do an ultrasound to measure how much blubber I have. Photo: Nicole Teutschel

Although to us satellite tags might seem big and bulky, to Featherfoot, they weigh less than a stick of gum does to a human! The tags have no affect on Featherfoot when she swims through the water, and when she surfaces, her tag will connect to satellites which will relay the data to the Costa lab via the Argos Satellite System. Each time her tag connects, we get a location, which we call hits. We can map out her “hits” back at the lab, and then play connect the dots to get a track of where she has been! Definitely a lot easier (and a lot less cold) than trying to swim along with her for 8 months!

One of the other females admiring Featherfoots "hat." Photo: Nicole Teutschel

When we get enough tracks, we are able to see where the tagged populations go to forage, and we have a better understanding of where pacific predators hunt. Our girls at Año Nuevo enjoy a nice long road trip, or sea trip, up to the North Pacific! Just another way that seals help science!

To learn more about Featherfoot and her friends, explore Elephant Seal Homecoming Days!