SeaTag - A new kind of science

Desert Star’s SeaTag family of electronic animal tags is the result of an NOAA sponsored SBIR program and acknowledges the two fundamental demands of the agency: boosting innovation in tag design and significantly reducing tag cost.

Prior to SeaTag, pop-up satellite tags cost $4000 each severely limiting their use. SeaTag revolutionized the tagging field by offering stored solar power systems augmented by batteries, functionality for freshwater use, magnetic sensing for reliable position estimation, fouling resistant housings and much lower pricing for much larger sample size.

These advances in the field have created two distinct product lines: S.A.M. tags (Stock Assessment and Mortality Tags) and an advanced studies pop-up satellite tag (SeaTag-MOD).

SeaTag’s strong technological and cost advantages are the result of Desert Star’s broad experience in many underwater technologies and economies of scale provided by our multiple product lines. A modular design approach and a large design library underpin all of our products and allow our creative workforce to learn quickly and design new tag versions efficiently using a ‘cut & paste’ approach. Reliability is thus enhanced as new tags ‘inherit’ the field record of established design blocks.

In addition, all SeaTag devices come with an extended warranty (ST-GOLD) option that covers non-reporting, under-reporting or otherwise non-functional tags during and after their deployment periods. If a tag falls under one of several categories, Desert Star Systems ships a replacement tag at no additional cost.

SeaTag presents a change in the concept of satellite tagging transitioning from studies using 10 or 20 tags to a systematic method of data collection, retrieval, and deployment utilizing a complementing line of pop-up satellite tags. No longer should you deploy a few tags of just one type! Instead, use a targeted collection of SeaTag devices to maximize your data return while minimizing study costs.