Tagging seals out on the Blasket Islands requires a combination of good weather, favourable tides, low sea swell and newly moulted seals using the beaches. All this came together at the end of March when CMRC researchers successfully caught and tagged 3 male grey seals. The specialised GPS tags, which relay both position and information on how deep the seals are diving via the mobile phone network, were funded by the National Geographic Society. The project aims to identify critical habitat for grey seals in Ireland and investigate potential overlap with fisheries.

Seals hauled out in the March sunshine on Great Blasket

Researchers attach a GPS tag to a male grey seal.
The tag will fall off in a few months when the seal moults and grows in new fur

The tagged grey starts a foraging trip where the tag will
record the location and information on how deep the animal is diving

For more information please contact Michelle Cronin 

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