Background:
Over the past six decades, global shark populations have experienced unprecedented declines, primarily due to targeted and incidental exploitation in fisheries. These declines raise growing conservation concerns among managers and policymakers, as sharks play a crucial role as a structural component in global marine ecosystems.
Highly migratory sharks, in particular, constitute a notably vulnerable demographic. Their extensive and often intricate movement patterns increase susceptibility to fisheries interactions, often occurring across multiple jurisdictions. Management of these species faces challenges due to knowledge gaps in various aspects of their biology. For instance, common migration corridors, the location of significant foraging grounds, and the behavioral and physiological responses of individuals to fisheries capture—both commercial and recreational—are inadequately defined for many species.
Mission:
The objectives are two-fold:
- Acquire high-resolution, 3D movement data on swordfish, sharks, and tunas (as model predators) using a suite of next-generation electronic tags.
- Characterize the predator-prey interactions occurring in the ocean twilight zone by collecting the first animal-borne video footage of these predators in their deep ocean environment.
Application:
The proposed efforts and data will contribute to a number of student internships and PhD student dissertations at WHOI.
