Acoustic tracking of Homarus gammarus inside the Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare: preliminary results [abstract]

Marta Picciulin, Marco Costantini, M. Spoto & Enrico A. Ferreto (2002). Acoustic tracking of Homarus gammarus inside the Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare: preliminary results [abstract]. Bioacoustics, Volume 13 (2): 205
Abstract: 

The poster describes the experimental set-up and outlines the procedure for monitoring the movements of Homarus gammarus inside a marine protected area by means of an acoustic VEMCO VR28T tracking system. It consists of a four channel receiver, connected to a four element hydrophone array, and of pingers, i.e. transmitters which emit an acoustic signal at a fixed period and frequency (in our case 46.2 pulses per minute and 76.8 kHz, respectively) for ten days. The quad hydrophone array provides 360 degrees coverage so that the direction of transmitted signals can be determined both aurally and electronically using TRACK28 software. In this case the bearing to the transmitter is shown graphically on the screen of a connected computer and all data received are saved to a disk file. The pinger was positioned dorsally on the animal. In order to check the hindering effects of the pinger, observations on three marked animals were carried out in a tank from October to December 2000. The 24 h activity of the animals was recorded using a high sensitivity videocamera. A non-marked lobster was present in the same experimental tank and kept under the same conditions. We found no evident difference in the behaviour of both types of animals. In May 2001 one lobster was released inside the Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare and its activity recorded as long as possible. Results of this first tracking are presented here.