Someone I know has asked me to identify an animal identification tag,
found washed up on a beach on the south west coast of Ireland. To
quote the e-mail "It is a closed band so seems to be off some sort of
animal. . .made of white plastic, about 2.5" in diameter. It has the
characters ISWD02 32 and a separate number 03934 on it."
2.5" seems very large for a bird ring. Most fish and seal tags are of
a different shape, and a simple search for ISWD hasn't given any
clues.
Any idea what organisation or species this is from? |
Request for Question Clarification by
knowledge_seeker-ga
on
31 Jan 2003 10:44 PST
Hi rissos,
I'm working on your question and have sent out a couple of email
inquiries. Meanwhile, could you pass the links to these images on to
your friend and have him/her let me know if this is about the size we
are talking about.
http://www.geology.utoronto.ca/AWG/banded.jpg
http://birds.cornell.edu/fnysbc/images/birds/SNGObanded250.jpg
Also, the size of the characters could help us differentiate the type
of band. As you can see by the links I just gave you, and this one --
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/images/neckcolb.jpg
.. the neckbands that are put on geese and swans have large text so
that wildlife officials can read them through binoculars. Is your
friend's band this way?
Any further information you can give me would help.
Thanks - K~
|
Clarification of Question by
rissos-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 03:12 PST
Hi k~
I have been sent a photocopy of the tag. It is not readable from a
distance. The width of the tag is only 0.5". The characters are
written horizontally around this in black, ISWD02 32 on one side of
the join in bold, and 03934, on the other in normal type. The two ends
of the band clip into each other. It therefore could not be attached
to any growing animal or part as it cannot expand. Hope this helps. I
have to admit, I'm stumped.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
knowledge_seeker-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 05:21 PST
Hi Rissos,
Thanks for your clarification. I just got an email back from the Fish
and Wildlife people, and they confirm it is not a bird band of any
sort. They did however have some other suggestions which I am now
following up on. I'll get back to you as soon as I have something.
-K~
|
Clarification of Question by
rissos-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 07:55 PST
Hi K~
Unfortunately for you, someone else has come up with the answer. It is
a carcass tag for salmon. Must have washed overboard before attachment
(Ireland South West, subdivision D and number. The other number is a
gear code). Appreciate your efforts. My next quextion will have you in
the subject line and will contain a tip for work done on this
Thanks.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
knowledge_seeker-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 12:46 PST
Hey Rissos,
Well, that'll teach me to go shopping instead of do my research! :-)
No, really I'm glad your mystery is solved - even if I wasn't the one
who solved it. I was still working down the path of lobster-trap and
fishing-net tags, so it might have taken me awhile to get to salmon.
My feeling is, as long as you got your answer one way or another, I'm
happy with that.
And how interesting! I didn't realize they marked salmon in such a
way. Here are a couple of pictures of a salmon tags I found after you
posted the answer.
SALMON TAG
http://www.kylemoreabbeyfishery.com/images/tag.jpg
SALMON TAG
http://www.cfb.ie/Images/TAGVIEW.gif
I appreciate your offer to post a future question to my attention.
That's, of course, not necessary, but is very generous of you. I would
be happy to answer it when and if you do.
Thank you,
-K~
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