2026-09-22 · research
A satellite tag is not a single purchase. The unit costs $3,500. Transmission time costs a further $500. On top of that sit the sea logistics: the vessel time, the fuel, the people and the days of searching required to find an animal and place the tag properly.
The 2025 funding buys six tags for six adult female whale sharks.
Tagging is one method among several used by the Galápagos Whale Shark Project: satellite tagging, photo-ID cataloguing, ultrasound to assess potential pregnancies, blood sampling and physiological research, and long-term analysis across years. A new ultrasound unit was acquired in 2025.
Source: Galápagos Shark Diving's 2025 impact report.