Attachment Penetration Tests 



The carcass tests determined the depth of penetration for subdermal anchors. 

 Pull scales were used to determine how effective different barb designs were during 

 carcass testing. These tests had some relevance to animals rubbing the tag on the 

 bottom or other animals. We found no effective way to simulate the long-term effects of 

 hydrodynamic drag which would predict the process of pressure necrosis for a live 

 animal. 



Transmitter Tests 



Tests of transmitter location accuracy were conducted in seawater ponds at the 

 Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) at Newport, Oregon. 



Bio-Compatible Materials 



We reviewed tests of several metal and plastic materials for tissue bio-compati- 

 bility (Geraci, et al., 1990; Hench, 1980; Wilson and Merwin, 1988). HDPE, a material 

 tested by Geraci, et al. (1990), showed promise for tissue adhesion but did not possess 

 enough structural strength on its own to act as an attachment. 



One potentially effective material which had not been tested on cetaceans was 

 BioGlass which softens so that tissue can grow into it. In 1990, we conducted tests of 

 BioGlass on a bottlenose dolphin at Sea World Orlando. The work was carried out 

 under a NMFS permit in collaboration with Jack Pearson, Mike Walsh and Terry 

 Campbell (Sea World Orlando) and Drs. Larry Hench and June Wilson-Hench 

 (developers of BioGlass ). BioGlass was used as a thin coating over five stainless steel 

 pins which were inserted along the leading edge of the bottlenose dolphin's dorsal fin as 

 per the protocol of Geraci, et al. (1990). Three pins came out of the animal within three 

 weeks and were recovered from the pool. The remaining two were loose and removed. 

 There was no BioGlass^ left on any of the pins. It appeared that the BioGlass'^ coating 

 was too thin on the implanted samples and entirely dissolved, leaving nothing to which 

 the tissue could adhere. No long-term damage resulted from the application of these 

 materials. The insertion holes were already closed on the days pin losses were noted. 

 Re-pigmentation of the area was complete within one week. 



Bottlenose Dolphin Test 



In July 1990 we attached a 1990 right whale tag to a large, female bottlenose 

 dolphin in Tampa Bay. Florida using a dorsal fin saddle attachment (Scott, et al., 1990). 

 The dolphin work was conducted in collaboration with Randy Wells whose program 

 continued observations on the behavior and movements of the dolphin. The tag was 

 attached with Delrin pins which were designed to break away if they caught on anything. 

 The pack came off 26 days after tagging. In addition to collecting interesting data, four 

 important factors are worth noting: 1) it took only 15 minutes to apply the tag; 2) the 



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