Movements and Swimming Behavior of Three Species of Sharks in La Jolla Canyon, California

Klimley, A. Peter; Beavers, Sallie C.; Curtis, Tobey H.; Jorgensen, Salvador J.

doi:10.1023/a:1014200301213

Cited by 165 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…One hypothesis suggests that migratory sharks, such as scalloped hammerheads ( Sphyrna lewini ), dive below the thermocline to ascertain magnetic cues necessary to navigate [39, 73–75]. High-resolution data collected from the mature female contained dives into the mesopelagic zone during its 3765 km migration, suggesting deep, directed dives may be related to long-distance movements [76].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In both the Atlantic and Pacific, blue sharks routinely demonstrate oscillatory dives between the surface and 400 m and exhibit diel variation in depth. These behaviors are often ascribed to hunting and behavioral thermoregulation [37, 39]. However, existing Atlantic movement models of blue sharks have omitted vertical components because advances in technology have only recently made this possible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogeophysical and physiological processes drive movement patterns in a marine predator

et al. 2017

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BackgroundBlue sharks (Prionace glauca) are among the most abundant and widely distributed of oceanic elasmobranchs. Millions are taken annually in pelagic longline fisheries and comprise the highest component of auctioned fin weight in the international shark fin trade. Though studies of blue sharks outnumber those of other large pelagic sharks, the species’ complicated and sexually segregated life history still confound current understanding of Atlantic movement patterns. Lack of detailed information regarding movement and vertical behavior continues to limit management efforts that require such data for stock assessment and sustainable catch modeling. Therefore, this study aims to describe behavioral and ecological patterns distinct to aggregating and migrating blue sharks, and compare the findings to existing Atlantic movement models.ResultsData collected from 23 blue sharks instrumented with pop-up satellite archival tags were used in statistical predictive regression models to investigate habitat use during a localized aggregation in the northwest Atlantic, while undergoing seasonal migrations, and with respect to environmental variables. Deployment durations ranged from 4 to 273 days, with sharks inhabiting both productive coastal waters and the open ocean, and exhibiting long-distance seasonal movements exceeding 3700 km. While aggregating on the continental shelf of the northwest Atlantic, blue sharks displayed consistent depth use independent of sex and life stage, and exhibited varied response to environmental (temperature and chlorophyll a) factors. As sharks dispersed from the aggregation site, depth use was influenced by bathymetry, latitude, demography, and presence in the Gulf Stream. Mature females were not observed at the New England tagging site, however, two mature females with recent mating wounds were captured and tagged opportunistically in The Bahamas, one of which migrated to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.ConclusionsVertical behaviors displayed by blue sharks varied greatly among locales; depth use off the continental shelf was significantly greater, and individuals exhibited a greater frequency of deep-diving behavior, compared to periods of aggregation on the continental shelf. Sexual segregation was evident, suggesting mature and immature males, and immature females may be subjected to high levels of anthropogenic exploitation in this region during periods of aggregation. Analysis of the spatio-temporal tracks revealed that nine individuals traveled beyond the United States EEZ, including a mature female captured in The Bahamas that migrated to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These results reflect and augment existing Atlantic migration models, and highlight the complex, synergistic nature of factors affecting blue shark ecology and the need for a cooperative management approach in the North Atlantic.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40462-017-0107-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeophysical and physiological processes drive movement patterns in a marine predator

et al. 2017

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“…Oscillatory swimming has also been related to thermoregulation; for example, whale sharks have been found to adjust time spent near the surface to regain heat lost during repeated excursions to deep, colder water (Thums et al, 2013). A final interpretation is linked to a potential role of V-shaped dives in navigation through the detection of magnetic fields, or sensing different water masses for directional information (Klimley et al, 2002). Nevertheless, regardless of the functions proposed, this dive type was commonly performed by both blue and basking sharks, suggesting that it may be a ubiquitous search strategy exhibited by both epipelagic planktivores and macropredators (Gleiss et al, 2011a).…”

Section: Dive Shape Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convergent Foraging Tactics of Marine Predators with Different Feeding Strategies across Heterogeneous Ocean Environments

et al. 2017

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Advances in satellite tracking and archival technologies now allow marine animal movements and behavior to be recorded at much finer temporal scales, providing a more detailed ecological understanding that can potentially be applicable to conservation and management strategies. Pelagic sharks are commercially exploited worldwide with current concerns that populations are declining, however, how pelagic sharks use exploited environments remains enigmatic for most species. Here we analyzed high-resolution dive depth profiles of two pelagic shark species with contrasting feeding strategies to investigate movement patterns in relation to environmental heterogeneity. Seven macropredatory blue (Prionace glauca) and six plankton-feeding basking (Cetorhinus maximus) sharks were tagged with pop-off satellite-linked archival tags in the North Atlantic Ocean to examine habitat use and investigate the function of dives. We grouped dives of both species into five major categories based on the two-dimensional dive profile shape. Each dive-shape class presented similar frequency and characteristics among the two species with U-and V-shaped dives predominating. We tested the spatial occurrence of different U-and V-shape dive parameters in response to environmental field gradients and found that mean depth and mean depth range decreased with increasing levels of primary productivity (chlorophyll "a"), whereas ascent velocities displayed a positive correlation. The results suggest that a planktivore and a macropredator responded behaviourally in similar ways to environmental heterogeneity. This indicates fine-scale dive profiles of shark species with different feeding strategies can be used to identify key marine habitats, such as foraging areas where sharks aggregate and which may represent target areas for conservation.

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“…Ultrasonic tags have been used to track the movements of salmon (Welch et al 2008) and sturgeon (Kelly et al 2007; Heublein et al 2009) in rivers and coastal-estuarine environments, to track the short-scale movements of several sharks (Holland et al 1992; Klimley 1993; Klimley et al 2002; Klimley and Nelson 1984) and rays (Klimley et al 2005), and to study site fidelity of sharks at seamounts (Klimley and Nelson 1984) and tuna at fish aggregating devices (FADs) (Klimley and Holloway 1999). In 2006, a regional network of scientists in the ETP deployed arrays of hydrophones at sites around Cocos, Galapagos, and Malpelo Islands (see www.migramar.org) and began an ambitious study to understand local and regional movement patterns of several shark species, including scalloped hammerhead sharks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hotspots within hotspots? Hammerhead shark movements around Wolf Island, Galapagos Marine Reserve

et al. 2010

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Are pelagic species such as sharks and tuna distributed homogenously or heterogeneously in the oceans? Large assemblages of these species have been observed at seamounts and offshore islands in the eastern tropical Pacific, which are considered hotspots of pelagic biodiversity. Is the species distribution uniform at these hotspots or do species aggregate at a finer spatial scale at these sites? We employed three techniques to demonstrate that the aggregations of scalloped hammerhead sharks, Sphyrna lewini, and other pelagic species were confined to the southeastern corner of Wolf Island in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Coded ultrasonic transmitters were placed on individuals at this site and at another aggregation site at Darwin Island, separated from Wolf by 40 km, and they were detected by monitors moored at the southeastern corner of Wolf Island and rarely by monitors deployed at other sites around the island. Hammerhead sharks, carrying depth-sensing continual transmitters, were tracked for two-day periods in a vessel and shown to reside a disproportionately large fraction of their time at the southeastern corner. Visual censuses were carried out seasonally at the eight monitor sites at Wolf Island, recording the abundance of one species of tuna, four species of jacks, and a number of other species. The highest diversity and abundance of these species occurred in the southeastern corner of the island. Our results support the use of hammerhead sharks as indicator and umbrella species for pelagic hotspots on a fine scale.

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Movements and Swimming Behavior of Three Species of Sharks in La Jolla Canyon, California

Cited by 165 publications

References 25 publications

Biogeophysical and physiological processes drive movement patterns in a marine predator

Biogeophysical and physiological processes drive movement patterns in a marine predator

Convergent Foraging Tactics of Marine Predators with Different Feeding Strategies across Heterogeneous Ocean Environments

Hotspots within hotspots? Hammerhead shark movements around Wolf Island, Galapagos Marine Reserve

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