How to Choose the Right Wildlife Computers Tag for Your Research Project

Start by narrowing the catalog in three passes: taxon → data delivery method → sensor/technology package. Wildlife Computers organizes its tags by taxa (Avian, Pinniped, Hard-Shell Turtle, Leatherback Turtle, Cetacean, Shark, Fish, Penguin) and offers a "Which Tag is Right for Your Project" tool on its site. If you need archived data recovered physically, look at the PAT family (microPAT, MiniPAT, sPAT, Benthic sPAT, mrPAT). If you need data transmitted without recovering the tag, look at the transmitting families (SPOT, SPLASH, and the avian Denali-S7 / Rainier-S20). Attachments, antifouling, and asset recovery are separate choices that often decide whether a deployment succeeds.

Step 1: Filter by taxon

The site's taxa menu is the fastest first cut, because attachment method and form factor are constrained by the animal, not by your data wish list.

The Denali-S7 is described as a next-generation, solar-powered Argos transmitter designed with seabirds in mind — a useful example of how a taxon-specific design (solar power for a bird that spends long periods on the surface) differs from a general-purpose tag.

Step 2: Decide between archiving and transmitting

This is the single biggest fork in the catalog.

Archiving tags (PAT family) store data on the tag and rely on the tag releasing and floating so you can recover it. The site lists microPAT, MiniPAT, sPAT, Benthic sPAT, and mrPAT under Pop-Up. These suit studies where you want high-resolution time series and can accept that recovery is required to get the full record.

Transmitting tags (SPOT / SPLASH family) send data via the Argos satellite system, so you get locations and summarized data without physically recovering the tag. The site lists SPOT, SPOT-F, SPLASH, SPLASH-F (new), SPLASH10, SPLASH10-BF, and SPLASH10-F. The "-F" variants and the BF variant are distinct configurations in the catalog; check each product page for what the suffix denotes for your deployment.

A practical rule: if losing the tag means losing the study, choose transmitting. If you need fine-scale behavioral or environmental series and can plan a recovery, choose archiving.

Step 3: Match the technology to your data question

Wildlife Computers groups its technologies as Argos Satellite System, Light-Based Geolocation, and Fastloc® GPS, with data products covering Archiving, Transmitting, Locations, Environmental, Behavior, Activity, and Time Series.

• Argos gives you transmitted positions and system-level data retrieval.
• Light-based geolocation works where GPS fixes are infrequent or power-limited, at lower spatial precision.
• Fastloc® GPS gives higher-accuracy positions, typically at a power cost.
• TDR / TDR10 appear in the catalog for depth and temperature recording — relevant if your question is diving behavior rather than movement alone.

Pick the sensor set from your hypothesis, not from the largest available package. Every added sensor is weight, power draw, and cost on a animal that has to carry it.

Step 4: Plan attachment, antifouling, and recovery up front

The catalog lists these as separate line items, and they are where many projects fail:

• LIMPET, Finmount, Transdermal — cetacean attachment approaches.
• Pop-up/Towed Attachment Aids — hardware for pop-up and towed configurations.
• Antifouling — relevant for any tag that spends extended time in seawater.
• Asset Recovery / PRD-RP — for getting the tag back.
• Floats — buoyancy for pop-up recovery.

Decide these at the same time as the tag, because attachment choice can rule out a tag shape you had selected.

Step 5: Confirm data handling before you buy

The site describes an online data portal that captures, decodes, and stores your data and supports automatic data retrieval by government-mandated data systems. Tools listed include IGOR, a Document Repository, Downloads, and a Portal with My Tags and My Data. If your project has a data-management requirement (institutional archive, national system), verify the portal supports it before committing to a tag family.

A worked example

Suppose you are studying post-fledging movements of a seabird and cannot recatch the birds. Taxon filter → Avian. Delivery → transmitting, since recovery is impossible. The site's avian options are Denali-S7 (solar-powered Argos) and Rainier-S20. You then choose the sensor package and attachment aids for a bird-borne tag, and confirm the portal meets your data obligations. If instead you were studying dive depth in a pinniped you can recatch, the same first two steps would point you toward an archiving PAT-family tag with TDR capability.

Common sticking points

• Suffixes matter. SPOT-F, SPLASH-F, SPLASH10-BF are not interchangeable with their base models; read the individual product page.
• "Which Tag is Right for Your Project" is a starting point, not a decision. Use it to shortlist, then verify specifications per product.
• Attachment is not an afterthought. LIMPET, Finmount, and Transdermal are different commitments with different tag-shape implications.
• The site does not publish pricing. Contact Wildlife Computers directly for cost and availability; do not assume any configuration is free or open-access.

For anything beyond the catalog structure — exact weights, battery life, Argos duty cycles, or custom configurations — use the Contact Project Information Form or the Tag Agent route listed on the site, since those details are project-specific.