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Passive acoustic tracking of lemon sharks in the US South Atlantic region. A) Overall study region including locations of all lemon shark acoustic detections (green circles) and historic angler recaptures (red circles) from sharks released at Cape Canaveral. B) Map of the full FACT Array including all passive acoustic receivers (yellow dots). C) Close-up of the Canaveral Array including locations of two important lemon shark aggregation sites. Nearshore receivers are numbered 1-3 which correspond to the year of the study they were deployed. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088470.g001
Source publication
Resolving the geographic extent and timing of coastal shark migrations, as well as their environmental cues, is essential for refining shark management strategies in anticipation of increasing anthropogenic stressors to coastal ecosystems. We employed a regional-scale passive acoustic telemetry array encompassing 300 km of the east Florida coast to...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... of juvenile lemon sharks was conducted at Cape Canaveral, east-central Florida (28.5u N, Fig. 1) from the beaches of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The shoreline here is among the most pristine of the Florida Atlantic coast with no residential or commercial develop- ment. Habitat disturbance is limited to space launch infrastructure set back from the beach several hundred meters. Due to security ...
Context 2
... total of 54 juvenile lemon sharks were collected from two recurring aggregation sites at Cape Canaveral ( Fig. 1) over three successive fall-winter periods from 2008 to 2010. The number of sharks using each site occasionally exceeds several hundred individuals. All animals were collected from shore using a 3.7 m radius monofilament cast net. After capture, sharks were transferred to a 125-liter tank where they were placed ventral side up. The ...
Context 3
... this study, the FACT Array consisted of 160-180 acoustic receivers (Vemco VR2 and VR2W) deployed over 300 km of the Florida east coast from West Palm Beach (26.5u N) to Ponce de Leon Inlet (29.1u N; Fig. 1). FACT monitored multiple habitats including beaches and nearshore reefs/wrecks in the open Atlantic Ocean as well as estuarine waters of the adjacent Indian River Lagoon. Special attention was taken to anchor receivers at migratory chokepoints including all ocean inlets as well as natural constrictions, causeway channels, and river ...
Context 4
... Cape Canaveral, the number of FACT receivers (referred to herein as the Canaveral Array) was expanded each winter ( Fig. 1). In December 2008, five ''nearshore'' receivers were deployed 250 m off the beach at a large lemon shark aggregation site south of Cape Canaveral. In December 2009, an additional ''offshore'' row of five receivers was installed 1250 m from the beach at this same site. Finally, in December 2010, four additional receivers were added just ...
Context 5
... the 54 lemon sharks tagged, 41 were detected away from Cape Canaveral. These individuals were recorded on 62 additional FACT stations from Palm Beach Inlet (26.8u N) to Ponce de Leon Inlet (29.1u N) at various times during the study (Figs. 1,2). Sharks also entered other passive arrays in Ossabaw Sound (n = 3) and Savannah River (n = 1), Georgia (32.0u N), and Charleston Harbor (n = 2), South Carolina (32.8u N). The minimum linear distance between the northernmost and south- ernmost detection was 663 km but over 770 km when following the coast. On average, sharks were ...
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Citations
... Common drivers of migrations can be climatic, gametic, or alimentary in nature (Heape 1931). Climatic migrations occur when the physiological tolerances of an animal are approached or exceeded and often relate to temperature approaching lethal limits, causing animals to migrate to warmer or cooler waters to avoid disruption of key physiological functions (Hopkins and Cech 2003;Reyier et al. 2014). Other ecological factors can also affect migratory behavior or space use; Blaber and Blaber (1980) hypothesized turbidity may be linked to predation pressure or alimentary resources, while Hopkins and Cech (2023) demonstrated the strong effects of salinity. ...
... While there is a strong effect of SST, it should also be noted that other factors also affect migration distance and contribute noise to our study. Namely, we were unable to incorporate year as a random effect in our study, which has been done in other studies, to account for the effects of changes to the configuration of arrays of acoustic receivers (Reyier et al. 2014). The effect of year can be seen in our supplementary materials, noting that our model terms did not perfectly capture this variation. ...
To better understand the effects of climatic variation on migratory behavior, we used passive acoustic telemetry to track the migrations of 44 bonnetheads, Sphyrna tiburo, tagged in the North Edisto River, South Carolina. We monitored individuals for up to 2804 days along ~ 1070 km of United States Atlantic coastline. The majority of these sharks exhibited strong site fidelity and returned annually, residing in the estuary from April to November. Climatic migrations occurred annually and overwintering habitats were located in nearshore Atlantic waters from Georgia to central Florida. Given the strong site fidelity, we were able to measure the distance and timing of migration and assess, for the first time to our knowledge, the interannual effects of climatic variation on the return migrations of individual sharks. We found that shark size and winter sea surface temperature had significant effects on the migration distance of female S. tiburo, the latter also contributing to interannual variation in migration duration and the date of arrival to overwintering areas. These data suggest that overwintering habitats are selected, at least in part, based on thermal preference or tolerance and not solely physical location. These results indicate that climate change may affect both the timing and distance of migrations for migratory sharks and highlight the benefit of maintaining long-term longitudinal datasets for studying complex animal behavior.
... ACF (autocorrelation function) plots were used to confirm the existence of temporal autocorrelation in the response variable 57 . AIC (Akaike information criterion) was used to select the model with or without random effect, the best variance structures and the most appropriate autocorrelation structure (autoregressive moving average models, ARMA), tested with up to two terms for each the autoregressive and the moving average parameters 13,58 . Standardized residuals were plotted against fitted and observed values to check for homogeneity 54 . ...
The brown meagre (Sciaena umbra) is an endangered species, which requires specific protection measures to ensure its conservation. These measures need to be informed by high-quality scientific knowledge on their space use patterns. Here, we used acoustic telemetry to assess its seasonal movement patterns and habitat use within a marine protected area (MPA). Our results suggested that S. umbra is a highly sedentary species (home range < 1.0 km²) and, therefore, the MPA is extensive enough to protect the local population. Their population was discretely distributed in two main areas within the MPA, which was likely a result of habitat segregation and density-dependent movements. The temporal variability of their movements further uncovered when and where spawning occurs (mainly, but probably not only, in the fully protected area in June) and indicated that spillover of this species is limited but still possible. Overall, we highlight the importance of MPAs in the recovery of S. umbra, we advocate the need to perpetuate the current national fishing bans and extend it to other countries in the Mediterranean region, and we emphasize that considering the fine-scale movements of S. umbra in future management actions is key to achieving a successful recovery of their populations.
... The observed decrease in lemon shark nocturnality during the lockdown suggests however that the diurnal period is also important for this species and that human processes were somehow hampering coastal habitat use during this diel phase. In the North Atlantic, lemon sharks have been reported to be more active during the daytime (Bouyoucos et al., 2018), but evidence of increased activity rates during the night is also available (Reyier et al., 2014), thus diel activity in lemon sharks could be site-dependent. ...
... To better understand drivers of transient occurrence, this model included regional sea surface temperature (SST) change over the recent past (e.g. Reyier et al. 2014 ). Second, we evaluated the time that individuals spent in the region depending on environmental conditions and tagging region of origin (index of potential population source or behavioral group), which owing to data limitations, analysis was conducted at a weekly resolution for the entire array. ...
Offshore wind energy development, including along the US Atlantic coast, frequently occurs within important multispecies migration corridors; however, assessing the regional factors influencing the local Eulerian occurrence of these species poses a significant challenge. We used generalized models incorporating lagged variables and hierarchical formulations to account for temporal dependencies and hierarchical structure that occur outside the narrower frame of a sampled project area. Acoustically tagged striped bass, the most frequently detected species regionally, were sampled using a gridded acoustic telemetry array in the Maryland Wind Energy Area of the US Mid-Atlantic Bight. The daily occurrence of striped bass was better explained by broad-scale sea surface temperature warming patterns than by local concurrent environmental conditions, demonstrating the importance of drivers that occur across the wider spatial scales of migration. Weekly residency patterns were similar between tagging origin groups, suggesting that Chesapeake Bay, Hudson River, Delaware Bay, and other Northwest Atlantic populations migrate synchronously through the Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight and are similarly influenced by sea surface temperature. Our study demonstrates that adapting an Eulerian approach to include lagged variables can improve regional assessments of fish on the move until richer Lagrangian insights become possible through future coordination of telemetry arrays throughout the Mid-Atlantic flyway.
... Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of applying movement ecology for sustainable management. For example, movement data informed decisions to prohibit harvest and protect habitat of Lemon Sharks Negaprion brevirostris on Florida's Atlantic coast (Kessel et al. 2014;Reyier et al. 2014;Brooks et al. 2019). In Lake Erie, successful management of Walleye Sander vitreus, which encounter different harvest regulations during annual migrations across state and provincial boundaries, has greatly benefited from knowledge of the species' spatial ecology Matley et al. 2020). ...
Objective
Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush are native coldwater apex predators that play an important role in maintaining ecosystem functionality and diversity in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Following population collapses, rehabilitation efforts were widely initiated in the Great Lakes to reestablish self‐sustaining Lake Trout populations. Lake Erie may pose a challenge to these rehabilitation efforts due to limited availability of appropriate oxythermal habitat. Our goal was to investigate seasonal habitat use of adult Lake Trout in Lake Erie to inform management and rehabilitation efforts.
Methods
We used acoustic telemetry in Lake Erie, which was equiped with a lake‐wide acoustic receiver grid, to quantify Lake Trout seasonal region occupancy, dispersal distances, bottom depth occupancy, space use extent, and space use overlap.
Result
We found that 32% of fish tagged in the eastern basin and all fish from the western basin dispersed more than 100 km from their tagging location, which represents a greater proportion of the population moving long distances than what has been previously documented in the Great Lakes. During stratification, Lake Trout were detected almost exclusively in the offshore eastern basin in areas where water depth exceeded 25 m. During nonstratified seasons, fish used other regions of the lake, occupying areas of highly variable depths. During fall, most fish tagged in the eastern basin occupied habitat along the southern shore of the eastern basin. Fish tagged in the western basin returned to this region in the fall of subsequent years despite occupying the offshore eastern basin during stratification and having depth occupancy, home range size, and overlap similar to that of eastern basin‐tagged fish. Fish size was positively correlated with receiver depth during winter and spring, and with home range overlap during spring and summer.
Conclusion
The results of this study can begin to inform management decisions regarding stocking locations, harvest regulations, and habitat restoration to facilitate the continued rehabilitation of this important native species.
... For example, shallow water is often utilized by small sharks to reduce predation risk [40]. This strategy is adopted locally by young lemon sharks who aggregate each winter along the shoreline and inner shoals in water only 1-2 meters deep with only infrequent excursions farther offshore [41]. Finetooth shark, a small coastal species, also preferred shallower water than other species. ...
... Long distance migrations, while only now being resolved in detail for many coastal sharks thanks to improved tagging technology (see [46][47][48][49][50]), have been broadly recognized for decades in the US Atlantic and many other regions of the world. Although not presented in detail here, a majority of blacknose, finetooth, sharpnose, and lemon sharks acoustically tagged at Cape Canaveral undertook northward spring migrations before returning to east Florida in fall [27,41], and over 200 sharks tagged by other researchers from South Florida and Bahamas to Canada migrated through the project area. These migrations result in a shark community that is in constant flux throughout the year. ...
Offshore sand shoals are a coveted sand source for coastal restoration projects and as sites for wind energy development. Shoals often support unique fish assemblages but their habitat value to sharks is largely unknown due to the high mobility of most species in the open ocean. This study pairs multi-year longline and acoustic telemetry surveys to reveal depth-related and seasonal patterns in a shark community associated with the largest sand shoal complex in east Florida, USA. Monthly longline sampling from 2012–2017 yielded 2,595 sharks from 16 species with Atlantic sharpnose (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), blacknose (Carcharhinus acronotus), and blacktip (C. limbatus) sharks being the most abundant species. A contemporaneous acoustic telemetry array detected 567 sharks from 16 species (14 in common with longlines) tagged locally and by researchers elsewhere along the US East Coast and Bahamas. PERMANOVA modeling of both datasets indicate that the shark species assemblage differed more across seasons than water depth although both factors were important. Moreover, the shark assemblage detected at an active sand dredge site was similar to that at nearby undisturbed sites. Water temperature, water clarity, and distance from shore were habitat factors that most strongly correlated to community composition. Both sampling approaches documented similar single-species and community trends but longlines underestimated the shark nursery value of the region while telemetry-based community assessments are inherently biased by the number of species under active study. Overall, this study confirms that sharks can be an important component of sand shoal fish communities but suggests that deeper water immediately adjacent to shoals (as opposed to shallow shoal ridges) is more valuable to some species. Potential impacts to these nearby habitats should be considered when planning for sand extraction and offshore wind infrastructure.
... More equipment was lost in our study when it was "hidden" than when it was "visible". In comparison, many research programs minimize surface marking of gear and instead use grappling lines (Domeier, 2005;Castagna, 2006;Halfyard et al., 2012;Smith, 2013), divers (Garla et al., 2006;Kerwatch et al., 2008;Papastamatiou et al., 2010;Lee et al., 2011;Da Silva et al., 2013;Hawthorne, 2013;Kock et al., 2013;Lefevre et al., 2013;Reyier et al., 2014), remotely operated vehicles (McAuley et al., 2016), or acoustic release mechanisms (Welch et al., 2004;Dawson and Starr, 2009;McMichael et al., 2010;Wolfe, 2013;Alfonso et al., 2014;Daley et al., 2014) to retrieve equipment. Deployment and retrieval of equipment with divers poses logistical challenges, especially if receivers are deployed in high traffic areas or if weather or sea conditions are unfavorable. ...
Acoustic tracking technology supports the study of behavioral patterns of finfish species over long periods and for long distances across coastal and marine environments. Our research program on elasmobranch movements required deployment of an acoustic array in a high-energy, continental shelf environment off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A meta-analysis of elasmobranch and teleost acoustic telemetry literature assisted in developing the anchoring and deployment system for the array. But at that time (2008–2014) the literature did not provide suggestions for cost-effective deployment in a remote, high-energy, offshore environment. Using best available information, we designed and deployed an array known as the “Cape Hatteras Acoustic Array” in Raleigh Bay just south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 0–12 kilometers offshore in waters ranging from 10.6 to 36.5 m deep. At the time, retrieving and redeploying the entire anchoring system was critical to reduce expenditure and minimize structure left on the seafloor in this key commercial fishing area. We describe considerations for the anchoring system design and its deployment and retrieval in this high energy environment affected by alongshore currents, large ocean currents (i.e., Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream), and several storms. While Danforth anchors and heavy chain worked for routinely tended moorings, much heavier anchors and large concrete blocks were necessary for long-term deployments through hurricane seasons. Regular maintenance reduced biofouling of surface lines and equipment deployed on the seafloor with a highflier and surface buoy system marking location of the vertically suspended equipment to minimize interactions with commercial and recreational vessels. Our experience shows that both mooring design and regular retrieval are crucial in maintaining acoustic arrays in challenging marine environments.
... Natural variability in biotic and abiotic factors play key roles in shark abundance (e.g.,Drymon et al., 2013;Plumlee et al., 2018), and the ecological conditions juvenile sharks encounter play pivotal roles in their growth and survival during early life history stages(Heithaus, 2007). YOY blacktip cohorts that experienced fewer prey, warmer or cooler water temperatures than average, and reduced time in estuaries prior to winter emigration exhibited compensatory growth, which may have reduced first year survival compared to cohorts born earlier, and in years with more abundant prey populations and moderate temperatures.Like many other sharks in subtropical and temperate latitudes, juvenile blacktips in the GOM migrate to more equatorial waters along continental shelves in fall-early winter to avoid cooling nearshore waters, and may return in spring-early summer to further utilize the nursery functions of coastal estuaries (e.g.,Hueter et al., 2005;Logan et al., 2020;Reyier et al., 2014). Larger body size energetically and ecologically aids in migratory behavior (e.g.,Acolas et al., 2012;Nasby-Lucas et al., 2019;Zhao et al., 2018). ...
Effective conservation and management necessitate an understanding of the ecological mechanisms that shape species life histories in order to predict how variability in natural and anthropogenic impacts will alter growth rates, recruitment, and survival. Among these mechanisms, the interaction between parturition timing and prey availability frequently influences offspring success, particularly when postnatal care is absent. Here, we assess how parturition timing and nursery conditions, including prey abundance and environmental conditions, influence the growth and potential survival of blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) in western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) estuaries over their first year. Catch data from long-term gillnet monitoring allowed for clear delineation of cohorts based on size frequency distribution plots, and showed that late parturition cohorts born in estuaries with fewer prey resources exhibited more rapid growth than early parturition cohorts that experienced more abundant prey. Compensatory behaviors that promoted accelerated growth led to reduced second year residency, likely due to reduced survival resultant from greater risk taking and potentially due to reduced site fidelity attributed to larger body size. Water temperatures influenced blacktip growth rates through physiological increases in metabolism and potential premigratory foraging cues associated with cooling temperatures. Gradual warming of the GOM (0.03°C year⁻¹) was also correlated with earlier parturition across the study period (1982–2017), similar to other migratory species. Considering current trends in climate and associated phenological shifts in many animals, testing hypotheses assessing compensatory growth-risk trade-offs is important moving forward to predict changes in life histories and associated recruitment in concert with current and future conservation actions, like wildlife management.
... These mark-recapture data found here are consistent with known displacements of these species based on previous conventional tagging (Kohler and Turner 2019) and tracking data in the region (Reyier et al., 2014;Guttridge et al., 2017;Pratt et al., 2018;Gallagher et al., 2021;Friess et al., 2021). Unsurprisingly, G. cirratum had one of the smallest average dispersion rates of the recaptured species. ...
... First, all management zones sampled permit some degree of fishing (recreational, commercial or both). Second, the study species are highly migratory and likely move among the different management areas surveyed here (e.g., Reyier et al., 2014;Graham et al., 2016;Guttridge et al., 2017;Pratt et al., 2018;Friess et al., 2021). That said, ENP emerged as the most frequently included management zone in the best fit models for the most species in terms of supporting higher relative abundance. ...
Given population declines of many shark species, coupled with increasing conservation efforts and recoveries, there is a need for baseline assessments and continued monitoring of shark populations to support management. The waters of South Florida, USA, are used by a diverse array of sharks that occur among a mosaic of habitats and management zones. Here we conducted standardized drumline surveys from Miami through the middle Florida Keys to examine spatial, seasonal and environmental patterns in shark occurrence, catch per unit effort, composition, and demographic structure. Between 2009 and 2021, a total of 21,755 drumlines were deployed, capturing 3398 sharks, comprising fifteen species. Ginglymostoma cirratum, (n = 1335), Carcharhinus limbatus, (n = 650), Negaprion brevirostris, (n = 314), C. leucas, (n = 253), and Sphyrna mokarran, (n = 238) were the most common species encountered. Overall, the largest shark surveyed was a 450 cm S. mokarran and the smallest shark was a 50 cm Rhizoprionodon terraenovae. At the assemblage level, relative abundance among regions and seasons were generally similar; however clear species-specific patterns of abundance, size structure, and sex-composition were detected by season, region, habitat, and management zones. Of the physical conditions evaluated, habitat type and depth emerged as the most influential parameters affecting abundances and sizes of species captured. While few species exhibited significant differences in catches by management zone, areas with the most restrictive fisheries regulations generally supported higher abundances for which differences were detected. These data serve as a baseline for future monitoring of shark populations in South Florida and assessing their response to environmental change.
... Our 'seasonals' group was not previously reported, which is not surprising given that we used a seasonality index variable specifically to distinguish that group. It should be noted here that many individuals or entire groups that clustered as movers in our analysis are known to undertake seasonal migrations to and from the Gulf (Biesiot et al. 1994, Reyier et al. 2014, Skomal et al. 2017), but detections were so infrequent that they could not be distinguished from more nomadic movement patterns. Our analysis identified individuals that spent a lot of time in areas with acoustic monitoring coverage (e.g. ...
Marine fish movement plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning and is increasingly studied with acoustic telemetry. Traditionally, this research has focused on single species and small spatial scales. However, integrated tracking networks, such as the Integrated Tracking of Aquatic Animals in the Gulf of Mexico (iTAG) network, are building the capacity to monitor multiple species over larger spatial scales. We conducted a synthesis of passive acoustic monitoring data for 29 species (889 transmitters), ranging from large top predators to small consumers, monitored along the west coast of Florida, USA, over 3 yr (2016−2018). Space use was highly variable, with some groups using all monitored areas and others using only the area where they were tagged. The most extensive space use was found for Atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus and bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas. Individual detection patterns clustered into 4 groups, ranging from occasionally detected long-distance movers to frequently detected juvenile or adult residents. Synchronized, alongshore, long-distance movements were found for Atlantic tarpon, cobia Rachycentron canadum, and several elasmobranch species. These movements were predominantly northbound in spring and southbound in fall. Detections of top predators were highest in summer, except for nearshore Tampa Bay where the most detections occurred in fall, coinciding with large red drum Sciaenops ocellatus spawning aggregations. We discuss the future of collaborative telemetry research, including current limitations and potential solutions to maximize its impact for understanding movement ecology, conducting ecosystem monitoring, and supporting fisheries management.
