1. Comparing shark locations and satellite measured ocean surface properties to understand shark movements Danielle Haulsee Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee Matthew Oliver Bradley Wetherbee Dewayne Fox Doug Miller

2. Outline Project background Summary: – Chapter 1: Building Satellite Derived Habitat Models for Blue and Tiger Shark Tracks – Chapter 2: Building Satellite Derived Habitat Models for Sand Tiger Shark Acoustic Hits Chapter 3: Using Mobile Acoustic Transceivers to Understand Sand Tiger Shark Community Structure Expected significance Project timeline Questions

3. Large shark species are declining in the NW Atlantic ocean (Baum et al. 2003, Ferretti et al. 2010) Project background (Ferretti et al. 2010)

4. Decrease in apex predators may lead to an increase in meso-predators, altering the food web (Myers et al. 2007, Ferreti et al. 2010) Project background ( Myers et al. 2007)

5. Tagging studies show that coastal and open ocean shark species can be highly migratory Project background (Kohler et al. 1998)

6. Tagging studies show that coastal and open ocean shark species can be highly migratory Project background (Kohler et al. 1998)

7. Tagging studies show that coastal and open ocean shark species can be highly migratory Project background (Kohler et al. 1998)

8. Building Satellite Derived Habitat Models for Blue and Tiger Shark Tracks Hypothesis: Pelagic blue and tiger shark migratory behavior is reflective of dynamic ocean conditions that can be measured by satellites and used to predict habitat preferences. Summary: Chapter 1

9. Research Questions 1.What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by blue sharks and tiger sharks in the Atlantic Ocean? 2.Do blue sharks and tiger sharks concentrate within or along the edges of the ocean biomes? 3.Do blue and tiger sharks have higher residency times in water masses with high chlorophyll a concentrations in the Atlantic Ocean? 4.Do the blue and tiger shark tracks exhibit more tortuous movement in areas of high chlorophyll a concentrations? 5.Are there environmental parameters that trigger the large-scale movements of the blue and tiger sharks? Summary: Chapter 1

10. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by blue sharks and tiger sharks in the Atlantic Ocean? – Mine the satellite imagery for environmental parameters associated with blue and tiger shark presence in the Atlantic Ocean Summary: Chapter 1

11. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by blue sharks and tiger sharks in the Atlantic Ocean? – Compare the temperatures measured by the PAT’s at depth with the satellite measured sea surface temperature – Analyze if using satellite imagery is an appropriate estimate of the ocean conditions the sharks are swimming through Summary: Chapter 1

12. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by blue sharks and tiger sharks in the Atlantic Ocean? – Use loess-fitting routine to parameterize the relationship between shark location and environmental parameters Summary: Chapter 1

13. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by blue sharks and tiger sharks in the Atlantic Ocean? – Create kernel density probability plots to display probability of shark presence based on environmental parameters and map preferred shark habitat types Summary: Chapter 1

14. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by blue sharks and tiger sharks in the Atlantic Ocean? – Create maximum entropy (Maxent) models to predict ideal shark habitat based on environmental parameters Summary: Chapter 1

15. Do blue sharks and tiger sharks concentrate within or along the edges of the ocean biomes? (Oliver et al. 2008) Summary: Chapter 1

16. winter spring summerfall Do blue and tiger sharks have higher residency times in water masses with high chlorophyll a concentrations in the Atlantic Ocean? – Compare residency time to satellite derived chlorophyll values (Credit to Matt Oliver, unpublished) Summary: Chapter 1

17. winter spring summerfall Do the blue and tiger shark tracks exhibit more tortuous movement in areas of high chlorophyll a concentrations? – Calculate straightness of shark tracks – Resolution of tracks may not be fine enough for this analysis – Time lag could also be an issue (Credit to Matt Oliver, unpublished) Summary: Chapter 1

18. Are there environmental parameters that trigger the large-scale movements of the blue and tiger sharks? – Analyze the phenology of the seasonal migrations of the shark species Summary: Chapter 1

19. Building Satellite Derived Habitat Models for Sand Tiger Shark Acoustic Hits Hypothesis: Coastal sand tiger shark migratory behavior is reflective of dynamic ocean conditions that can be measured by satellites and used to predict habitat preferences. Summary: Chapter 2

20. Research Questions 1.What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by sand tiger sharks in the Delaware Bay and along the East Coast? 2.Do sand tiger sharks have higher residency times in water masses with high chlorophyll a concentrations in the Delaware Bay and along the East Coast? 3.Are there environmental parameters that trigger the arrival and departure of the sand tiger sharks in the Delaware Bay as well as the large-scale migrations of the sand tiger sharks along the East Coast? 4.Do these migrations and preferences differ among sex and/or age classes of the sand tiger sharks? Summary: Chapter 2

21. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by sand tiger sharks in the Delaware Bay and along the East Coast? – Mine the satellite imagery for environmental parameters associated with sand tiger shark presence within the Delaware Bay Proposed methods and preliminary results

22. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by sand tiger sharks in the Delaware Bay and along the East Coast? – Create kernel density probability plots using environmental parameters to characterize the environmental space the sharks inhabit Proposed methods and preliminary results

23. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by sand tiger sharks in the Delaware Bay and along the East Coast? – Create maximum entropy (Maxent) models to predict ideal shark habitat based on environmental parameters Maxent Probability Model Proposed methods and preliminary results September 2007 Probability

24. Do sand tiger sharks have higher residency times in water masses with high chlorophyll a concentrations in the Delaware Bay and along the East Coast? – Compare residency time to satellite derived chlorophyll values Proposed methods and preliminary results Chlorophyll a concentration Frequency of Acoustic Hits

25. Are there environmental parameters that trigger the arrival and departure of the sand tiger sharks in the Delaware Bay as well as the large-scale migrations of the sand tiger sharks along the East Coast? – Mine environmental parameters near the arrival and departure of sand tiger sharks within the Delaware Bay Proposed methods and preliminary results

26. Do these migrations and preferences differ among sex and/or age classes of the sand tiger sharks? – Separate the sand tiger shark dataset by sex and age class and create kernel density and Maxent models There are differences in habitat choice between the males and females of shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, and dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula, (Sims 2003, Mucientes et al. 2008, Montealegre-Quijano and Vooren 2010) Likely that there are differences in habitat choice within the Delaware Bay of juveniles vs adults, and males vs females Proposed methods and preliminary results

27. Using Mobile Acoustic Transceivers to Understand Sand Tiger Shark Community Structure Hypothesis: Sand tiger sharks inhabit a definitive community structure and migrate in social congregations. Chapter 3

28. Research Questions 1.Can we use acoustic transceivers deployed on large predatory fishes to characterize the community structures encountered by sand tiger sharks? 2.Is there a difference between using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a large predatory fish as a mount for an acoustic transceiver? 3.Are their areas of the ocean where large groups of sand tiger sharks are congregating that are beyond the detectable range of the current coastal acoustic arrays? 4.What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by sand tiger sharks along the East Coast? 5.Do male and female sand tiger sharks migrate to different areas after leaving the Delaware Bay? Chapter 3

29. Proposed Methods Deploying Acoustic and Satellite Tags – Fish for sand tiger sharks within the DE Bay June – August 2012 – 50 V16 VEMCO acoustic tags Approximately 1:1 male to female ratio – 20 VEMCO Mobile Transceivers (VMTs) + 20 Pop-off Satellite Tags (PATs) Approximately 1:1 male to female ratio Chapter 3

30. Proposed Methods Chapter 3 38mm D 180mm L 16mm D 75mm L 73mm D 308mm L Established arrays Implant in 20 STS Implant in 50 STS

31. Proposed Methods Shark presence will be detected by acoustic arrays within the DE Bay, and along the East Coast Chapter 3

32. Proposed Methods Control: Slocum Glider – Outfitted with one PAT and one VMT – Deployed on 4, 30 day missions (fall, winter, spring, summer) transecting coastal shelf Chapter 3

33. Proposed Methods Retrieving Tags and Collecting Data – PATs set to pop-off early late May 2013 Will indicate if sharks carrying VMTs are returning to DE Bay – Data from acoustic receivers in DE Bay will be monitored for hits from sharks carrying VMTs – Sharks with VMTs will be located by actively searching with an acoustic hydrophone once determined to be in the Bay – Sharks with VMTs will be fished for using long lines or nets – VMTs will be removed from sharks so data can be downloaded Chapter 3

34. Proposed Methods Timeline for field seasons – Deploy acoustic receiving array in DE Bay: May 2012 Perform checks and download data 1x per week until September 2012 – Fish for sand tiger sharks: June – August 2012 Tag with V16 acoustic transmitters (50): June – mid July Tag with VMTs and PATs (20 each): mid July – August – Receive spatial data from PATs: June2013 – Deploy acoustic receiving array in DE Bay: May 2013 Perform checks and download data 2-3x per week looking for tag id’s from sharks with VMTs – Actively search for and fish for sharks carrying VMTs: June – August 2013 Chapter 3

35. Can we use acoustic transceivers deployed on large predatory fishes to characterize the community structures encountered by sand tiger sharks? Chapter 3 VMT VR2W PAT

36. Can we use acoustic transceivers deployed on large predatory fishes to characterize the community structures encountered by sand tiger sharks? – Assess community structure Determine if VMTs within sharks are frequently detecting one species, or many Determine if species detected changes over a temporal and/or spatial scales Do biodiversity indices change over temporal and/or spatial scales Chapter 3 Or

37. Can we use acoustic transceivers deployed on large predatory fishes to characterize the community structures encountered by sand tiger sharks? – Assess community structure Do sharks from the DE Bay remain associated with one another as they migrate Could indicate social structure Chapter 3

38. Is there a difference between using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a large predatory fish as a mount for an acoustic transceiver? – Compare shark VMT to AUV VMT Controls for the behavior of the sharks carrying VMTs Do VMTs in sharks have more detections? Do VMTs in sharks detect a higher diversity of species? VMT Chapter 3

39. Are their areas of the ocean where large groups of sand tiger sharks are congregating that are beyond the detectable range of the current coastal acoustic arrays? – Create kernel density probability plots showing areas of intensive sand tiger shark use outside of acoustic arrays Define the bottom conditions and characterize the environmental parameters while the sharks are present in this area Chapter 3

40. What is the nature of the pelagic environment preferred by sand tiger sharks along the East Coast? – Even if no VMTs are returned, acoustic and PAT tags are important Acoustic data from V16s will increase the sample size in my analyses for Chapter 2 Little is known about the migratory routes taken by sand tigers after leaving the Bay Can characterize ideal water conditions using techniques previously mentioned: – Kernel density probability plots – Loess regression analysis – Maximum Entropy modeling Chapter 3

41. Do male and female sand tiger sharks migrate to different areas after leaving the Delaware Bay? – Separate the sand tiger shark dataset by sex and create kernel density and Maxent models Likely that there are differences in habitat choice and migratory routes taken for males and females Important implications for management of species Chapter 3

42. Improve our understanding of shark behavior in regards to their movements and the structure of the community around them Predictive habitat model will also aide in conservation and management Help reduce the bycatch of these sharks as well as better understand their role in the environments they inhabit. Expected significance

43. Timeline Approved bypass petition and PhD proposal September Making habitat models for blue and tiger sharks November Qualifying exams Begin writing Continue writing and begin submission process February Study for qualifying exams Study for qualifying exams Summer 2012 Begin field season Begin diving into sand tiger shark dataset

44. Questions?