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- Harcourt, R., et al.
(author)
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Animal-borne telemetry: An integral component of the ocean observing toolkit
- 2019
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In: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 6:JUN
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Animal telemetry is a powerful tool for observing marine animals and the physical environments that they inhabit, from coastal and continental shelf ecosystems to polar seas and open oceans. Satellite-linked biologgers and networks of acoustic receivers allow animals to be reliably monitored over scales of tens of meters to thousands of kilometers, giving insight into their habitat use, home range size, the phenology of migratory patterns and the biotic and abiotic factors that drive their distributions. Furthermore, physical environmental variables can be collected using animals as autonomous sampling platforms, increasing spatial and temporal coverage of global oceanographic observation systems. The use of animal telemetry, therefore, has the capacity to provide measures from a suite of essential ocean variables (EOVs) for improved monitoring of Earth's oceans. Here we outline the design features of animal telemetry systems, describe current applications and their benefits and challenges, and discuss future directions. We describe new analytical techniques that improve our ability to not only quantify animal movements but to also provide a powerful framework for comparative studies across taxa. We discuss the application of animal telemetry and its capacity to collect biotic and abiotic data, how the data collected can be incorporated into ocean observing systems, and the role these data can play in improved ocean management. © 2019 Harcourt, Sequeira, Zhang, Roquet, Komatsu, Heupel, McMahon, Whoriskey, Meekan, Carroll, Brodie, Simpfendorfer, Hindell, Jonsen, Costa, Block, Muelbert, Woodward, Weise, Aarestrup, Biuw, Boehme, Bograd, Cazau, Charrassin, Cooke, Cowley, de Bruyn, Jeanniard du Dot, Duarte, Eguíluz, Ferreira, Fernández-Gracia, Goetz, Goto, Guinet, Hammill, Hays, Hazen, Hückstädt, Huveneers, Iverson, Jaaman, Kittiwattanawong, Kovacs, Lydersen, Moltmann, Naruoka, Phillips, Picard, Queiroz, Reverdin, Sato, Sims, Thorstad, Thums, Treasure, Trites, Williams, Yonehara and Fedak.
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| 2. |
- McMahon, C. R., et al.
(author)
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Animal Borne Ocean Sensors - AniBOS - An Essential Component of the Global Ocean Observing System
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 8
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Marine animals equipped with biological and physical electronic sensors have produced long-term data streams on key marine environmental variables, hydrography, animal behavior and ecology. These data are an essential component of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The Animal Borne Ocean Sensors (AniBOS) network aims to coordinate the long-term collection and delivery of marine data streams, providing a complementary capability to other GOOS networks that monitor Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs), essential climate variables (ECVs) and essential biodiversity variables (EBVs). AniBOS augments observations of temperature and salinity within the upper ocean, in areas that are under-sampled, providing information that is urgently needed for an improved understanding of climate and ocean variability and for forecasting. Additionally, measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence and dissolved oxygen concentrations are emerging. The observations AniBOS provides are used widely across the research, modeling and operational oceanographic communities. High latitude, shallow coastal shelves and tropical seas have historically been sampled poorly with traditional observing platforms for many reasons including sea ice presence, limited satellite coverage and logistical costs. Animal-borne sensors are helping to fill that gap by collecting and transmitting in near real time an average of 500 temperature-salinity-depth profiles per animal annually and, when instruments are recovered (similar to 30% of instruments deployed annually, n = 103 +/- 34), up to 1,000 profiles per month in these regions. Increased observations from under-sampled regions greatly improve the accuracy and confidence in estimates of ocean state and improve studies of climate variability by delivering data that refine climate prediction estimates at regional and global scales. The GOOS Observations Coordination Group (OCG) reviews, advises on and coordinates activities across the global ocean observing networks to strengthen the effective implementation of the system. AniBOS was formally recognized in 2020 as a GOOS network. This improves our ability to observe the ocean's structure and animals that live in them more comprehensively, concomitantly improving our understanding of global ocean and climate processes for societal benefit consistent with the UN Sustainability Goals 13 and 14: Climate and Life below Water. Working within the GOOS OCG framework ensures that AniBOS is an essential component of an integrated Global Ocean Observing System.
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| 3. |
- Liu, X. D., et al.
(author)
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Origin and expansion of the world's most widespread pinniped: Range-wide population genomics of the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina)
- 2022
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 31:6, s. 1682-1699
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) is the most widely distributed pinniped, occupying a wide variety of habitats and climatic zones across the Northern Hemisphere. Intriguingly, the harbour seal is also one of the most philopatric seals, raising questions as to how it colonized its current range. To shed light on the origin, remarkable range expansion, population structure and genetic diversity of this species, we used genotyping-by-sequencing to analyse similar to 13,500 biallelic single nucleotide polymorphisms from 286 individuals sampled from 22 localities across the species' range. Our results point to a Northeast Pacific origin of the harbour seal, colonization of the North Atlantic via the Canadian Arctic, and subsequent stepping-stone range expansions across the North Atlantic from North America to Europe, accompanied by a successive loss of genetic diversity. Our analyses further revealed a deep divergence between modern North Pacific and North Atlantic harbour seals, with finer-scale genetic structure at regional and local scales consistent with strong philopatry. The study provides new insights into the harbour seal's remarkable ability to colonize and adapt to a wide range of habitats. Furthermore, it has implications for current harbour seal subspecies delineations and highlights the need for international and national red lists and management plans to ensure the protection of genetically and demographically isolated populations.
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| 4. |
- Roquet, Fabien, et al.
(author)
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Estimates of the Southern Ocean general circulation improved by animal-borne instruments
- 2013
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In: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 40:23, s. 6176-6180
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the last decade, several hundred seals have been equipped with conductivity-temperature-depth sensors in the Southern Ocean for both biological and physical oceanographic studies. A calibrated collection of seal-derived hydrographic data is now available, consisting of more than 165,000 profiles. The value of these hydrographic data within the existing Southern Ocean observing system is demonstrated herein by conducting two state estimation experiments, differing only in the use or not of seal data to constrain the system. Including seal-derived data substantially modifies the estimated surface mixed-layer properties and circulation patterns within and south of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Agreement with independent satellite observations of sea ice concentration is improved, especially along the East Antarctic shelf. Instrumented animals efficiently reduce a critical observational gap, and their contribution to monitoring polar climate variability will continue to grow as data accuracy and spatial coverage increase.
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| 7. |
- Treasure, Anne M., et al.
(author)
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Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole A Review of the MEOP Consortium
- 2017
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In: Oceanography. - : The Oceanography Society. - 1042-8275. ; 30:2, s. 132-138
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Polar oceans are poorly monitored despite the important role they play in regulating Earth's climate system. Marine mammals equipped with biologging devices are now being used to fill the data gaps in these logistically difficult to sample regions. Since 2002, instrumented animals have been generating exceptionally large data sets of oceanographic CTD casts (>500,000 profiles), which are now freely available to the scientific community through the MEOP data portal (http://meop.net). MEOP (Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) is a consortium of international researchers dedicated to sharing animal-derived data and knowledge about the polar oceans. Collectively, MEOP demonstrates the power and cost-effectiveness of using marine mammals as data-collection platforms that can dramatically improve the ocean observing system for biological and physical oceanographers. Here, we review the MEOP program and database to bring it to the attention of the international community.
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| 8. |
- Wolkers, H., et al.
(author)
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Accumulation, metabolism, and food-chain transfer of chlorinated and brominated contaminants in subadult white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros) from Svalbard, Norway
- 2006
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In: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0090-4341 .- 1432-0703. ; 50:1, s. 69-78
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The concentrations and patterns of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were studied in white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and narwhals (Monodon monoceros) from Svalbard, Norway. In addition, their main food items were included in the study. In the whales, a broad range of pollutants was found in relatively high concentrations. PCBs and pesticides were approximately 3000 and 8000 ng/g lipid, respectively, for white whales and three times higher for narwhals. PBDEs 47 were approximately 70 ng/g lipid for white whales and 170 ng/g lipid for narwhals. Compared with other marine mammals from the same area, contaminant levels are among the highest levels ever measured. These high levels are likely in part because of a decreased capacity to metabolize contaminants. Metabolic indices indicated that most compounds accumulate to the same degree in white whales and narwhals, but for some toxaphenes and chlordanes, narwhals might have a decreased metabolism and consequently a higher accumulation. The three-times-higher contaminant levels in blubber of narwhals was further explained by substantially higher contaminant levels in their more benthic diet. The high levels and broad pattern of accumulating pollutants make white whales and narwhals excellent indicators for a wide range of contaminants in the Arctic.
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