Key findings
- 1
The released whale shark's first-person footage recorded nearby fish (likely yellowfin tuna) and others, visualizing the surrounding fauna immediately after its return to the wild.
- 2
The tagged individual was confirmed to have dived to about 150 m.
- 3
Using a 'detach-and-float for recovery' operation, the video data was successfully retrieved on the release day.
Study overview
The subject was a whale shark reared at the Iburi Center of Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan's Institute of Marine Biology (Tosashimizu, Kochi). It was released with survey instruments in September 2023.
The study was conducted with Kobe University's Faculty of Maritime Sciences. Whale-shark migration-route research has also been carried out with Hokkaido University since 2011, reporting migrations toward the Philippines and deep dives.
The LoggLaw device and its role
According to our news post, the camera logger used in this study was our LoggLaw CAM underwater video logger. It is animal-borne and records first-person (animal's-eye) footage of the released individual.
Combined with a satellite tag that logs position and depth, it allows analysis linking where the animal swam, at what depth, and what it saw. Observing a reared individual's behavior right after its return to the wild, directly via an onboard camera, is the key value here.
Why it matters
Returning a reared whale shark to the wild and recording its behavior and surroundings immediately afterward with an animal-borne camera is a valuable effort bridging conservation and ecological research.
It is an example of our video loggers being used in collaborative research on a large migratory fish between an aquarium and a university.
Authors & collaborators
- Institute of Marine Biology, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan — Iburi Center (rearing & release)
- Kobe University, Faculty of Maritime Sciences — Prof. Iwata (camera logger)
- Hokkaido University — whale-shark migration-route research (since 2011)
Source
海遊館 公式ブログ（November 11, 2023）
https://www.kaiyukan.com/connect/blog/2023/11/post-2510.htmlSupplementary materials
Related products & use cases
LoggLaw CAM — underwater video logger
Used as the camera logger in this study. An animal-borne underwater video 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.