Spatial and temporal characteristics of whale shark and manta aggregations in the Western Caribbean & Gulf of Mexico

Data provider
MarAlliance - Marine Megafauna Program
Originating data center
Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)
Project partner
Partners for this project include the Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas of Mexico(Dr. Francisco Remolina), The Department of Fisheries in Belize (Beverly Wade and James Azueta), the Centro de Investigaciones de Ecosistemas Costeros of Cuba (Dr. Fabian Pina), Deep Blue in Utila Honduras (Steve Fox), University of Southern Mississippi in Louisiana, USA (Dr. Eric Hoffmayer)and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the US (Emma Hickerson).
Project sponsor or sponsor description
This Project is supported by the Summit Foundation, and several donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and manta rays (Manta spp.)represent some of the most iconic species of fish worldwide and yet only recently are their patterns of movement becoming known. Whale shark and manta site fidelity and movements in relation to ephemeral food sources and a host of environmental factors are being elucidated through a long term and multi-partner project named the MarineMeganet. The Western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico possess several aggregations of whale sharks and a large aggregation of manta rays as well as a range of other species of ocean giants that gather seasonally to feed. Although there are no targeted fisheries for the world's largest fish and ray in this region, their large and predictable aggregations remain at risk from ship strikes, uncontrolled tourism and, in the case of the whale shark, the capture of its food source (eg fish that produce the spawn that whale sharks feed on).

To better understand aggregation dynamics of whale sharks and manta rays we are investigating their patterns of movement in relation to ephemeral food pulses and anthropogenic threats by deploying satellite location only tags that will provide near real time tracking information to inform the management and conservation of these species.

Los tiburónes ballena (Rhincodon typus) y las manta rayas (Manta spp.) representan algunas de las especies más emblemáticas de peces en todo el mundo y sin embargo sólo recientemente sus patrones de movimiento han sido revelado. La fidelidad al sitio y los movimientos en lo referente a fuentes alimenticias efímeras y una serie de factores ambientales se están esclareciendose a través de un largo plazo y el proyecto denominado el MarineMeganet. El oeste del Caribe y el Golfo de México poseen varias agrupaciones de tiburones ballena y una gran acumulación de manta rayas, así como una variedad de otras especies de gigantes del océano que se reúnen por temporadas para alimentarse. Aunque no hay ninguna pesca regional enfocada hacia estos planktivoros grandes, sus agregaciones grandes y predecibles permanecen en riesgo de huelgas de la nave, turismo descontrolado y, en el caso del tiburón ballena, la captura de su fuente de alimento (por ejemplo los peces que producen la semilla que se alimentan de tiburones ballena).

Para mejor comprender la dinámica de la agregación de tiburones ballena y de las manta rayas estamos investigando sus patrones de movimiento en relación con pulsos de alimentos efímeras y amenazas antropogénicas mediante la colocación de etiquetas satélites que proporcionarán información para la gestión y conservación de estas especies de seguimiento en tiempo casi-real.

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Overview

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downloadable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission.

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)	Description
prognum	Program number
tag_id	PTT ID
lc	Location class
iq	Quality indicator
dir1	Dir 1
nb_mes	Number of messages received
big_nb_mes	definition not provided
best_level	Best signal strength in dB
pass_duration	Pass duration in seconds
nopc	Number Of Plausibility Checks successful (from 0-4)
calcul_freq	Calculated frequency
altitude	Altitude used for location calculation
sensors	Sensors
species	Species name
project_id	STAT Project ID
lc_filter	Parameters to location filtering
speed_filter	Parameters to speed filtering
distance_filter	Parameters to distance filtering
topo_filter	Parameters to topo filtering
time_filter	Parameters to time filtering
angle_filter	Parameters to angle filtering
life_stage	Life stage of the animal
gender	Gender of the animal
wetdry	Wet or dry
wetdry_filter	Parameters to Wet or dry filterint
obs_datetime	Date and time (local time zone)
timezone_h	Time difference from UTC