Guess the object

As for last issue’s object… “Too easy,” wrote Pusser Tas. “It’s a wigram for a goose’s bridle.” (We note Pusser neglected to add the reason, which is that there are no bones in ice cream.) But Paul van Leeuwen, of St Andrews Beach, Victoria, nailed it: “I think the items might be tags to put on an animal, so you can find it using GPS,” he wrote. “You’re close,” we responded. “Care to put a guess on the kind of animal? (They’re in the magazine …)” “Maybe a blue whale?” ventured Paul. Close enough, sir. They are, in fact, the tips of tags for radio-tracking fin and humpback whales, developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), in Massachussets, US, in the late 1970s.

Well played,

Paul. Your prize is a pdf version of the classic September 1977 technical report (yes, hand typed), The Development and Testing of A Radio Whale Tag, by William A Watkins and William E Schevill (pictured at left). Enjoy!