MIAMI — There are plenty of ways people from South Florida can help protect and conserve the oceans and marine life, but Florida International University is doing something next level.
Marine mammal researcher Dr. Jeremy Kiszka is leading a global effort to tag and track whales and dolphins to better understand how they travel and how climate change and human activity may be affecting them.
“We also tag animals such as dolphins that strand alive in some places, to try to see how they’re making it,” said Kiszka. “It’s, you know, when we refloat them. We try to know more about the species that nobody has ever tagged before. It’s a great project that we actually share with the public.”
F-I-U’s research is helped by bracelets made by a company named Fahlo. The bracelets can be bought throughout stores in South Florida.
They come with a QR code that can be scanned, and it allows the user to follow dolphins and whales that Dr. Kiszka and his team have tagged. Ten percent of sales goes directly to research funds, and there even are plush toys for kids.
“So it’s a really great way to get people involved,” said Kiszka. “They can actually participate in our research, through an app on their phone and track their animals. This little object completely changed our research. It’s an amazing opportunity for us to do things that have never been done before and just involve the public like this is just.. I feel very fortunate to be able to do that.”
Kiszka says the sales of the bracelets around the world have been in the millions — directly helping pioneer new research.
“We probably have the biggest taggest program now in the world with sperm whales and we didn’t know anything about those large males that can be 18 meters long.”
It has also allowed F-I-U to live up to its name -- partnering with Norway and other countries around the world.
“To me, I really hope that this program, like, lasts for the rest of my career,” said Kiszka. “It opened the door to species and places where nothing had been done before. So the exploration of the ocean can continue thanks to the public getting engaged and seeing actually what research looks like on an app. These animals mean a lot, not only to me, but to people, but they’re also amazing indicators of the health of our oceans.”
Kiszka added that the tagging process is done in the least invasive way possible -- a pin in the dorsal fin, which heals quickly. His team tags dolphins in the Gulf and also monitors dolphins in Biscayne Bay.
The bracelets can be found in zoos, aquariums, surf and outdoor shops all over South Florida.
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