The Florida Sport Fishing Association (FSFA) out of Cape Canaveral and the Central Florida Offshore Anglers (CFOA) based in Orlando are willing to pay to know where the dolphin are. The two clubs plopped down a combined $6,000 to the CSS Dolphinfish Research Program www.dolphintagging.com to purchase a satellite tag for the spring 2008 project.

The pop-off satellite archival tags (PSAT) are pricey at $6,000 apiece, but provide critical data that, in the past, could not be measured. The miniature computers can record time-specific depth, temperature and light intensity every minute, and can monitor a fish for up to a year’s time. Afterward, the tag releases itself from the fish, floats to the surface and transmits its data back to a home office; the fish does not have to be recovered to get the data.

The 2008 CSS goal is to deploy at least 10 of these high-tech instruments on dolphin. A grant from the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium in cooperation with the SC Department of Natural Resources allowed for the purchase of three PSATs for dolphin. With four tags now acquired, the CSS study is still looking for at least six additional private organizations or businesses to sponsor tags.