Key findings
- 1
To the author's knowledge, the first 'forward-facing' animal-borne video footage of Atlantic bluefin tuna was obtained.
- 2
The footage recorded multiple encounters with other tuna swimming ahead of the tagged individual (while the hoped-for feeding scenes were not captured this time).
- 3
Loggers were successfully deployed on three Atlantic bluefin tuna during the 10-day survey; the largest individual encountered was estimated at 397 kg.
Study overview
The survey was conducted in late September to early October 2023 at Port Hood (a harbor town near a herring spawning ground) on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada — waters where, drawn by herring, minke whales, grey seals, shearwaters and many other marine animals gather alongside tuna.
Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is distributed widely across the Atlantic and is a different species from the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) commonly distributed in Japan. While migration routes have been clarified via pop-up tags, fine-timescale behavior remains poorly understood — which this study targets with data loggers and video loggers.
University of Tokyo researchers Kosuke Matsuda and Makoto Yoshida joined the team of Prof. Barbara Block (Stanford University), who has run bluefin experiments in the area since around 2006. Individuals caught by rod were measured and tagged aboard the boat, fitted with loggers, and released.
The LoggLaw device and its role
According to our news post, the video logger used in this study was our LoggLaw CAM underwater video logger (the newsletter text does not name the model). It is animal-borne and records footage from the tuna's perspective.
Combined with data loggers that record position and depth, it gets at 'behavior in the moment' that migration routes alone cannot reveal — gaining a new observational axis (forward-facing footage) on a large pelagic fish.
Why it matters
Atlantic bluefin tuna is an important species of conservation concern, so direct observation of fine-scale behavior is valuable baseline information for stock management and conservation.
It is an example of our video loggers being used in international research on a large migratory fish (Stanford University × The University of Tokyo).
Authors & collaborators
- Kosuke Matsuda (松田康佑), Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo — author of the report "Tuna survey in Canada"
- Makoto Yoshida (吉田誠), Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (postdoc)
- Prof. Barbara Block (Stanford University) — collaborating research team
Source
日本バイオロギング研究会 会報 第209号（January 1, 2024）
Supplementary materials
Related products & use cases
LoggLaw CAM — underwater video logger
Used as the video logger in this study (per our news post). An animal-borne logger recording first-person footage.
LoggLaw C Series (data loggers for fish)
Ultra-compact data loggers (archival tags / DSTs) used in fish biologging.
What is biologging — principles, history, applications
How animal-borne video loggers work and the kinds of data they capture.
Related research
Digest by
A graduate of Kyoto University's Graduate School of Informatics and UC Santa Cruz's School of Environmental Studies. As co-founder of Biologging Solutions Inc., a Japan-based biologging equipment manufacturer, he oversees deployments of the company's products with municipalities, universities, and international consortia.
A biologging researcher with field experience including video-logger studies of penguin behavior in Antarctica. As co-founder of Biologging Solutions Inc., he leads the development of compact data loggers, GPS collars, and video loggers built directly around real-world research needs.