Tracking apex marine predator movements in a dynamic ocean

Abstract

Electronic tracking data on 23 marine species have been collected as part of the ten-year Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) field project, part of the Census of Marine Life collaboration. The information reveals the predator hotspots, foraging patterns and migration corridors of the large marine predators. Top predators are found to exploit their environment in predictable ways, providing the foundation for spatial management of large marine ecosystems. A major finding is the discovery that retentive oceanographic conditions on the west coast of North America have created an ocean wilderness where large predators are relatively undisturbed. Pelagic marine predators face unprecedented challenges and uncertain futures. Overexploitation and climate variability impact the abundance and distribution of top predators in ocean ecosystems1,2,3,4. Improved understanding of ecological patterns, evolutionary constraints and ecosystem function is critical for preventing extinctions, loss of biodiversity and disruption of ecosystem services. Recent advances in electronic tagging techniques have provided the capacity to observe the movements and long-distance migrations of animals in relation to ocean processes across a range of ecological scales5,6. Tagging of Pacific Predators, a field programme of the Census of Marine Life, deployed 4,306 tags on 23 species in the North Pacific Ocean, resulting in a tracking data set of unprecedented scale and species diversity that covers 265,386 tracking days from 2000 to 2009. Here we report migration pathways, link ocean features to multispecies hotspots and illustrate niche partitioning within and among congener guilds. Our results indicate that the California Current large marine ecosystem and the North Pacific transition zone attract and retain a diverse assemblage of marine vertebrates. Within the California Current large marine ecosystem, several predator guilds seasonally undertake north–south migrations that may be driven by oceanic processes, species-specific thermal tolerances and shifts in prey distributions. We identify critical habitats across multinational boundaries and show that top predators exploit their environment in predictable ways, providing the foundation for spatial management of large marine ecosystems.