Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration
The conservation and protection of marine megafauna require robust knowledge of where and when animals are located. Yet, our ability to predict animal distributions in space and time remains limited due to difficulties associated with studying elusive animals with large home ranges. The widespread d...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 https://doaj.org/article/fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 2023-05-15T16:05:15+02:00 Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration Travis W. Horton Nan Hauser Alexandre N. Zerbini Malcolm P. Francis Michael L. Domeier Artur Andriolo Daniel P. Costa Patrick W. Robinson Clinton A. J. Duffy Nicole Nasby-Lucas Richard N. Holdaway Phillip J. Clapham 2017-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 https://doaj.org/article/fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 https://doaj.org/article/fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 4 (2017) navigation gravity moon humpback whale great white shark elephant seal Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 2022-12-31T07:24:44Z The conservation and protection of marine megafauna require robust knowledge of where and when animals are located. Yet, our ability to predict animal distributions in space and time remains limited due to difficulties associated with studying elusive animals with large home ranges. The widespread deployment of satellite telemetry technology creates unprecedented opportunities to remotely monitor animal movements and to analyse the spatial and temporal trajectories of these movements from a variety of geophysical perspectives. Reproducible patterns in movement trajectories can help elucidate the potential mechanisms by which marine megafauna navigate across vast expanses of open-ocean. Here, we present an empirical analysis of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), and northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) satellite telemetry-derived route fidelity movements in magnetic and gravitational coordinates. Our analyses demonstrate that: (1) humpback whales, great white sharks and northern elephant seals are capable of performing route fidelity movements across millions of square kilometers of open ocean with a spatial accuracy of better than 150 km despite temporal separations as long as 7 years between individual movements; (2) route fidelity movements include significant (p < 0.05) periodicities that are comparable in duration to the lunar cycles and semi-cycles; (3) latitude and bedrock-dependent gravitational cues are stronger predictors of route fidelity movements than spherical magnetic coordinate cues when analyzed with respect to the temporally dependent moon illumination cycle. We further show that both route fidelity and non-route fidelity movement trajectories, for all three species, describe overlapping in-phase or antiphase sinusoids when individual movements are normalized to the gravitational acceleration present at migratory departure sites. Although these empirical results provide an inductive basis for the development of testable hypotheses ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Marine Science 4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
navigation gravity moon humpback whale great white shark elephant seal Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
navigation gravity moon humpback whale great white shark elephant seal Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Travis W. Horton Nan Hauser Alexandre N. Zerbini Malcolm P. Francis Michael L. Domeier Artur Andriolo Daniel P. Costa Patrick W. Robinson Clinton A. J. Duffy Nicole Nasby-Lucas Richard N. Holdaway Phillip J. Clapham Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration |
topic_facet |
navigation gravity moon humpback whale great white shark elephant seal Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
The conservation and protection of marine megafauna require robust knowledge of where and when animals are located. Yet, our ability to predict animal distributions in space and time remains limited due to difficulties associated with studying elusive animals with large home ranges. The widespread deployment of satellite telemetry technology creates unprecedented opportunities to remotely monitor animal movements and to analyse the spatial and temporal trajectories of these movements from a variety of geophysical perspectives. Reproducible patterns in movement trajectories can help elucidate the potential mechanisms by which marine megafauna navigate across vast expanses of open-ocean. Here, we present an empirical analysis of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), and northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) satellite telemetry-derived route fidelity movements in magnetic and gravitational coordinates. Our analyses demonstrate that: (1) humpback whales, great white sharks and northern elephant seals are capable of performing route fidelity movements across millions of square kilometers of open ocean with a spatial accuracy of better than 150 km despite temporal separations as long as 7 years between individual movements; (2) route fidelity movements include significant (p < 0.05) periodicities that are comparable in duration to the lunar cycles and semi-cycles; (3) latitude and bedrock-dependent gravitational cues are stronger predictors of route fidelity movements than spherical magnetic coordinate cues when analyzed with respect to the temporally dependent moon illumination cycle. We further show that both route fidelity and non-route fidelity movement trajectories, for all three species, describe overlapping in-phase or antiphase sinusoids when individual movements are normalized to the gravitational acceleration present at migratory departure sites. Although these empirical results provide an inductive basis for the development of testable hypotheses ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Travis W. Horton Nan Hauser Alexandre N. Zerbini Malcolm P. Francis Michael L. Domeier Artur Andriolo Daniel P. Costa Patrick W. Robinson Clinton A. J. Duffy Nicole Nasby-Lucas Richard N. Holdaway Phillip J. Clapham |
author_facet |
Travis W. Horton Nan Hauser Alexandre N. Zerbini Malcolm P. Francis Michael L. Domeier Artur Andriolo Daniel P. Costa Patrick W. Robinson Clinton A. J. Duffy Nicole Nasby-Lucas Richard N. Holdaway Phillip J. Clapham |
author_sort |
Travis W. Horton |
title |
Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration |
title_short |
Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration |
title_full |
Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration |
title_fullStr |
Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Route Fidelity during Marine Megafauna Migration |
title_sort |
route fidelity during marine megafauna migration |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 https://doaj.org/article/fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 4 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 https://doaj.org/article/fd03b0e82eb24bbdb82307e7f86e2309 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00422 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
4 |
_version_ |
1766401149408116736 |