Petter Lundberg

Petter Lundberg is a postdoctoral fellow at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Since 2022, he’s been helping lead telemetry studies for marine species in the Baltic Sea, along the Swedish west coast and in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. 

How did you first become interested in aquatic animal tracking? 

I’ve always been interested in animals—especially aquatic ones. Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my head underwater trying to understand them. My fascination with the ocean led me to study marine biology in Australia, but I got homesick and moved back to Sweden. I did not, however, get sick of the ‘silent world’ beneath the waves and I got back into marine science by working as a scientific diver while undertaking a PhD in experimental physics at Umeå University. During this time, I got to know a research group that was pioneering telemetry studies in Sweden and I was intrigued. A few years later, I was asked to join them and that’s when I really started getting involved in the field of aquatic telemetry. 

What questions are you trying to answer with your current research? 

Our group coordinates and maintains most of the telemetry studies in Sweden, and we have receiver arrays set up all across the nation; in fresh-water, coastal and open-sea areas. My main focus is to study marine species, including the Greenland shark, spiny dogfish, bluefin tuna, salmon and cod. The questions we’re hoping to answer differ between species, but a lot of it comes down to baseline data about their movement and behaviour, and how to best use that knowledge for management and conservation.  

How is the surrounding community involved in the project? 

Local anglers play an important role in our work. We leverage their knowledge to find and secure the animals we tag. We also collaborate with a local aquarium where we tag animals that are bred at their facility—such as cod and small-spotted catsharks—before they’re released into the wild. Some of these collaborations have existed for a long time, but we’re constantly developing them. It’s crucial to get to know the surrounding community if you want to find new opportunities to work together.

How does OTN support your project? 

In Europe, we’re part of the European Tracking Network (ETN). Still, there are certain animals, such as the bluefin tuna, that move away from European waters and travel across the Atlantic. Cross-collaboration and data sharing with OTN is very helpful when it comes to studying highly migratory species.