Submersible Tinytags are monitoring sea temperatures in the Adriatic and under laboratory conditions, as part of a study into how environmental parameters affect oyster growth.

The Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split, Croatia, is dedicated to the investigation of the sea. The scientific activity conducted covers virtually everything concerned with sea exploration: physical, chemical, geological, biological and fisheries.

The Institute is involved in a 'Unity Through Knowledge' project entitled 'Competition Between Native Ostrea Edulis and Invasive Crassostrea Gigas Oysters in the Adriatic Sea - Effects on the Ecosystem, Fisheries and Aquaculture.' Dr Daria Ezgeta Balic is a Postgraduate Doctor at the Institute and as part of the Project is investigating if there is a difference in the sea temperature at several bivalve aquaculture sites along the eastern Adriatic during the period of oyster spat (juvenile) settlement. Five submersible Tinytag Aquatic 2 data loggers were placed together with marked oysters to monitor the temperature. Along with other environmental information, the data is used to study how environmental parameters affect oyster growth.

Additional Tinytag Aquatic 2 units are also used in aquaria in the laboratory to monitor temperature during oyster feeding experiments.

From the data loggers located on the spat collectors, the Project Team is able to analyse variations between the temperatures at each site and try to identify any significant differences. And from the loggers that are placed in the growth experiment in the laboratory, the data is used to interpret the difference in the oysters' growth, together with other environmental parameters.

Dr Balic comments, "The Tinytags have proved reliable, they have a long battery life and they are really user-friendly - you can really rely on them!"

Gemini Data Loggers' Aquatic 2 range is specifically designed for underwater temperature monitoring, either under controlled experimental conditions, or in remote locations where their bright yellow cases come in handy for retrieval and their battery life and memory capacity means they can be left for long periods if required.

The photograph show the Aquatic 2 data logger in use in experiments in the Adriatic