Tagging of Pacific Pelagics
Annual Report to CoML – September 2008
Dr. Barbara Block
Stanford University
Department of Biological Sciences
Hopkins Marine Station
Pacific Grove, CA 93950-3094
Phone: (831) 655-6236 Fax: (831) 375-0793 E-mail: bblock@stanford.edu
Dr. Daniel P. Costa
Ecology Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Santa Cruz
Long Marine Lab
100 Shaffer Rd
Santa Cruz, California USA 95060-5730
Phone: (831) 459-2786 Fax: (831) 459-3383 E-mail: costa@biology.ucsc.edu
Dr. Steven Bograd
Environmental Research Division
Southwest Fisheries Science Center
1352 Lighthouse Avenue
Pacific Grove, California 93950 USA
Phone: 831-648-8314 E-mail:steven.bograd@noaa.gov
1. 2008 ACCOMPLISHMENTS & SCIENTIFIC HIGHLIGHTS
Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) is a multidisciplinary international program, at the
forefront of biologging science, engaged in technological innovation, discovery, exploration, and
marine conservation. In the past six years, TOPP has successfully assembled an international
scientific team (more than 70 scientists, 5 nations) that is taking a synoptic view of how large
predators use the North Pacific. TOPP has had two phases (I: 1999-2002; and II: 2003-2006),
with an organizational, demonstration and implementation focus. Our current efforts are directed
toward Phase III (2007-2009) of TOPP. Phase III efforts focus on elucidating trophic linkages
and oceanographic processes within pelagic marine hot spots (California Current Ecosystem,
North Pacific Transition Zone) identified in prior years. Our goal is to have TOPP’s data
management, ocean observation capacity, and data delivery to become fully “operational” in the
years 2008-2010 synthesis phase of the Census. In addition to these accomplishments, we are
building capacity in biologging science across the globe http://biologging.wordpress.com/. TOPP
is sharing technology, data management schemes, analysis tools and tagging techniques with
researchers around the globe. The results of TOPP’s efforts will be used by national and
international resource managers, including sanctuary managers, ocean observation portals, and
climate modelers. We predict that TOPP in 2010 will be a functional partner with GOOS, IOOS,
NOAA, and NASA to ensure that data delivery continues in our case from the Pacific Basin
regions.
TOPP results are generating a fundamental understanding of the Pacific pelagic
ecosystem. Results from TOPP Phase II have detected several major hot spots for top predators
and we are focusing efforts on quantifying the habitat characteristics that result in aggregation
and retention of highly migratory species. Key to these efforts is linking movements to
oceanography. Cutting edge software in development with our research partners (Mamvis of
SMRU; Eofusion of Tasmania, Australia, and Duke Obis SEAMAP), integrates the animal
tracking data with behavioral and environmental datasets to determine what features in a variable
environment (SST gradients, chlorophyll and sea-surface height etc.) are influencing movement
paths. TOPP has simultaneously initiated the modeling and data analysis efforts necessary for
integrating animal tracking oceanographic data with in situ oceanographic data collected from
ships and buoys to expand our knowledge of the distribution and behavior of top predators in the
context of the ocean and ecological sciences.
As we now enter Phase III (2008-2010) of the TOPP program and look forward to the
completion of the Census of Marine Life in 2010. We are currently focused on final deployments
associated with hot spot mapping in the California Current, synthesizing the data across species,
meeting the objectives of the COML synthesis plan recently announced, and solidifying the
advances that the TOPP program has brought to Biologging Science. TOPP is moving from the
large-scale deployment of tags and acquisition of movement and behavior data to the synthesis of
multi-species data on a variety of levels, ranging from biological, to ecological to oceanographic.
Fundamental to this synthesis is an understanding of the movement patterns and behavior of the
individual species relative to oceanographic conditions. TOPP in 2008 is committed to
completing the oceanographic integration within species groups as a first step to a larger multispecies and cross-habitat synthesis.
In September 2008, TOPP hosted the Biologging III conference at Asilomar, Pacific
Grove. A total of 235 attendees (representing 20 nations) delivered 103 oral and 45 poster
presentations on 89 different species. Over the five-day event, research on the latest advances in
biologging science highlighted studies on sharks, tuna, marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles,
squid, and a few terrestrial vertebrate species. This was a truly international affair as delegates
from 20 nations were represented. TOPP research was showcased by presentations from the PI’s,
associated researchers, and graduate students. The meeting was a great success.
Prior to the Biologging conference, Drs. Block, Costa, and Bograd hosted a meeting
funded by SCOR with several major research groups from around the globe. The goal of this
meeting was to initiate the architecture for a common portal to display animal tracking data on
the internet with assistance from Google Oceans, and to advance the field of using animals as
ocean sensors by forming a cohesive collaboration amongst major ‘TOPP-like’ programs.
Ultimately, this initiative will enhance cooperation among major labs to provide great synthesis
of marine animal distribution and promote greater awareness by the oceanographic community
of the contribution that free-ranging marine animals can make to the collection of high-quality
oceanographic data from animal-borne sensors. Overall, there was unanimous support for the
initiative and follow up meetings are planned.
SUMMARY OF PROGRESS
The TOPP electronic tagging data collected to date (2002-2008) spans the entire North
Pacific. We have succeeded in tagging 23 species (Figures 1 and 2) and have conducted ~4000
deployments as we originally had predicted. By taking on an organizational structure of 7
independent tagging teams (tunas, sharks, pinnipeds, cetaceans, seabirds, sea turtles and squid)
that have synchronized tag purchases, technology transfer, deployment schedules and data
management systems, TOPP has maximized the efficiency of tagging efforts. In addition, we
have provided opportunities for researchers in 6 nations (New Zealand, Costa Rica, Chile,
Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Japan) to use our data management system at no cost, sharing our
web based resources, analytical routines, and
oceanographic integration tools, so that they could track
10 additional species with the same efficiency
(Galapagos, white tip, silky sharks, sailfish, Galapagos
Sea lions, waved albatross, striped marlin, manta rays).
By building multi-national collaborations (where partners
supply the tags and we provide the satellite coverage and
analyses) we expand the TOPP concept at little cost
throughout the Pacific basin.
The paradigm emerging from TOPP is that global
biologging researchers can work together using a central
data management system (as noted in our SCOR meeting
to create a common portal). This model can be replicated
elsewhere so that the design principles and lessons
Figure 1. Tracks of 23 TOPP study
learned by TOPP are available to other tagging teams
organisms. This includes, tuna, sharks, sea
studying large pelagic predators. The success of TOPP to
turtles, pinnipeds, cetaceans, and seabirds
tracked from various locations throughout
date has been driven by excellent intra-organizational
the Pacific.
collaboration by TOPP researchers and partners. TOPP
researchers contributed expertise and resources to other TOPP participants, ranging from
physical equipment necessary for tagging (slings, anesthesia protocols, tag hardware such as
harnesses), to techniques for data analyses (first passage time and fractal analyses from marine
mammal researchers to tuna researchers) that have accelerated the success of the program. TOPP
has also extended electronic tagging into animal species that are difficult to tag because they are
rare (squid), or they have body sizes that are challenging to follow (shearwaters).
TOPP has continued to explore and map the
critical pelagic habitats of the California Current
System and North Pacific at finer resolution and
with an emphasis on hot spot mapping. Our data
management system provides daily uplinks from
over 150 animals, and coordinates live
transmissions of the satellite derived data,
handling hundreds of active platforms in a 90-day
period. We have created archives for tag data that
permit instantaneous retrieval of metadata, time
series data and recovery information from ~4000
animals, and we now have the capacity to deliver
millions
of physical observations of the water
Figure 2. Kernel density map of all positions
column suitable for assimilation into ocean models.
(230,000) for 23 species tracked in Phase I & II.
Phase II has established “mission control” for the
animal exploration of the marine environment. We are now poised to move beyond the eastern
North Pacific.
The TOPP program has pioneered deployments of eight unique electronic tag platforms.
Two new tags have been developed in collaboration with our engineers (GPS and CTD tags), and
we have developed new algorithms for sampling the environment (e.g. chlorophyll) or for
combining electronic tagging and satellite remote sensing data. Together these efforts are
providing unprecedented information on the distribution, ecology and behavior of top oceanic
predators as well as the ocean environment they swim in (http://www.topp.org/). Given that
phase II emphasized tag deployment and implementation, most of the analyses to date have
focused on individual species. This is a necessary prerequisite to the more synthetic analysis,
which is currently underway in TOPP Phase III, where multi-species aggregation sites will be
studied. Below we summarize major highlights by team.
TUNAS AND SHARKS
Figure 3. The distribution of bluefin tuna in the
eastern Pacific as revealed by archival tags.
Since TOPP initiated archival tagging of
Pacific bluefin tuna in 2002, 515 archival tags
have been deployed, 118of which were put out
in 2008 (Table 1, Figure 3). Remarkably, 240
electronic tags (~47%) have been recovered in
the past four years, providing over 52,000 days
of information on the movements, behaviors and
habitat preferences of Pacific bluefin tuna, the
largest electronic tagging data set in the world.
Seasonal movements off North America have
indicated two distinct hotspot regions: bluefin
tuna are farthest south in the spring when they
are located off southern Baja California, Mexico
and farthest north in the fall when fish are found
predominantly off central and northern
California (Figure 4). Latitudinal movement
patterns are correlated with peaks in coastal
upwelling induced primary productivity. TOPP
scientists have developed the ability to document
feeding events based on internal cooling when
prey are ingested, followed by visceral warming
due to digestion of food. Feeding behavior of
Pacific bluefin tuna in Southern California
follows a cycle of both diel and lunar periodicity,
with fish feeding near the surface during the dark
phases of the moon, and at increasing depths as
Figure 4. Seasonal kernel density of tuna off
the moon becomes full. We are now building
California and Mexico. From Boustany (2006).
predictive habitat models (Lawson, Noguiera
and Block, In prep.; Boustany, Halpin and
Block, In preparation), that use the movement parameters reported by tagged fish (average step
length, turning angle, max daily movement) in combination with environmental parameters
recorded by satellites (SST, primary productivity, current patterns) to determine the most likely
movement paths of bluefin tuna in the California Current ecosystem and to forecast the potential
effects longer term climate change will have on the distribution of bluefin tuna in this region.
Archival tags deployed on bluefin tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean have been recovered
by commercial fishermen at rates of 47-81 in 2002-2007 (Table 1). These rates of tag recovery
imply that the fishing mortality on Pacific bluefin tuna is extraordinarily high; however, such
data have not yet been included in stock assessments of tuna. It is urgent that new stock
assessment methods be developed to analyze the spatial temporal complexity revealed in the
electronic tagging data and to improve the accuracy of estimates of fishing mortality rates and
migration patterns for Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna and predictions of the potential
consequences of alternative fisheries management policies. The Lenfest Foundation has provided
funds to initiate calculation of stock mortality and assessment based on the tag and recapture
data.
Table 1: Summary of Pacific bluefin tag deployments and recoveries.
Year
Tags
Tags
%
Deployed Recovered Recovered
2002
91
47
52
2003
110
81
74
2004
8
5
63
2005
109
70
64
2006
68
11
16
2007
32
1
3
2008
118
10
8.5
TOTAL
536
225
43%
*Tags were just deployed in July 2008
Avg. Days
at Large
605
379
348
182
201
7
14*
Building on the work tracking the migrations of Pacific bluefin tuna along the California
coast by Boustany et al. (submitted) and Kitigawa et al. (2007), we are currently investigating
more closely two hotspot regions in the California Current System that consistently attract large
numbers of Pacific bluefin tuna in spring and summer. By integrating track data from archival
tags with tag measurements of water temperature and satellite remote sensing observations, we
are seeking to identify the biological and physical features underlying these high use regions.
Habitat utilization distributions derived from kernel density analyses of daily geolocations were used to identify and delineate hotspot
regions occupied by the Pacific bluefin tuna off
southern Baja in Apr-Jun and in the California Bight
in Jul-Aug, 2004. Analyses of satellite observations of
sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a
concentrations in each hotspot (Figure 5) before,
during, and after the time of occupancy by the fish
suggest that their arrival and departure into and out of
these hotspot regions represents a balance between
temperature
100%
50%
June 2004
Chlorophyll - a
(mg/m3)
June 2004
Sea Surface Temperature
(C)
preferences and ecosystem productivity. More
specifically, the southern Baja hotspot is occupied
when water temperatures are within the bluefin’s
physiological optimal range and productivity is
maximal, and then is vacated for the California Bight Figure 5. Kernal density map of positions from
hotspot as water temperatures warm above 20°C. The 200 pelagic sharks studied in TOPP
bluefin tuna then leave the latter hotspot and move representing 5 species (white, thresher, blue,
mako, salmon).
into the much more productive waters farther north as
temperatures at these northern latitudes reach their annual maximum. Ongoing analyses are
examining the depth preferences and diving and feeding behavior of the fish both inside and
Figure 6. Satellite observations of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a concentrations during June of 2004.
Overlain are the 100% utilization contour, showing the full range of all tagged Pacific bluefin tuna during this month,
and the 50% utilization contour delimiting the southern Baja hotspot. Although a broad range of temperatures and
levels of productivity were available and occupied by some fish, the majority of the tagged tuna were concentrated in
the warm temperatures (18-20C) and high productivity of the hotspot.
outside of these hotspot regions, in order to gain further insight into the features and processes
attracting the fish to them and to infer the likely prey sources.
Lotek LTD 2310 geolocating archival tags have been used exclusively on yellowfin tuna,
with 760 deployed to date yielding 254 recoveries (Shaefer et al. 2007). Tagging has been
conducted annually off southern Baja, CA, Mexico starting in 2002, off northern Baja in 2004,
2005, and 2006, at the Revillagigedo Islands Marine Reserve in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Recovery
rates have been variable, related to deployment locations and regional fishing effort, but have
been around 50% off southern Baja and as high as 61% in October of 2005. About 30% of all
recoveries to date have been at liberty for more than 6 months and 11% for in excess of one year,
with the longest complete archival tag data set to date just over 3 year
Shark Tagging in TOPP
Sharks are a key component of marine food webs and important apex predators. Using
electronic tagging technology TOPP scientists at Stanford, UC Davis, NOAA Fisheries and
CICESE in Mexico have tagged over 360 individual pelagic sharks in the northeastern Pacific
(white, mako, salmon, thresher, and blue) and are thus providing the first real-time data on how a
closely related guild (Lamnidae) and outgroup taxa (thresher) sharks use the oceanic habitat.
TOPP tagging of sharks has been a highlight of the program as technology for dorsal fin tagging
has revolutionized being able to study sharks in an open sea habitat (Figures 6).
As in previous years, NOAA and CICESE continue to tag blue, mako and thresher sharks
in the southern California Bight while Stanford and UC Davis teams focus on white and salmon
sharks. The Southern California bight region is an important nursery ground for all three sharks
and appears to be an important hotspot for these and other TOPP species. The tagging of both
blue and mako sharks occurs in conjunction with NOAA’s annual juvenile shark surveys at the
southern extent of the California Current. In the summer of 2007, 12 mako and 4 blue sharks
were tagged with a combination of PAT and SPOT tags, in 2007 an additional 8 mako sharks
were tagged. Thresher shark tagging occurs in conjunction with a second juvenile shark survey
for thresher sharks that are found in much shallower waters (generally shallower than 50 m) near
the coast. This year 4 sharks were tagged with PAT tags, one of which was double tagged with a
SPOT tag. Three of these tags have been recovered providing long-term archival datasets.
The efforts of CICESE and NOAA focus in the southern extent of the California Current
where the majority of fisheries take occurs in the US EEZ. To expand tagging efforts
geographically, NOAA teamed up with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada to
deploy 10 pairs of satellite tags on blue sharks
at the northern extent of the California
Current off Vancouver Island. Comparisons
between animals tagged in the two different
regions of the California Current will help us
to better understand the influence of
oceanography on movements and behaviors as
well as examine the potential for variability in
migratory patterns. The animals tagged off
Canada were slightly smaller in size than the
four blue sharks tagged in the southern
California Bight, which were all over 6 ft this
Figure 7. Three representative tracks of salmon shark
year.
Satellite tags have provided long-term movements representing general movement patterns
observed with satellite tags. Inset shows extended use
data sets (as long as 4.8 consecutive years) on of coastal Alaskan waters during winter.
the movements and environmental preferences
of female salmon sharks in the eastern Pacific. This research has shown that there are repeated
annual patterns of migrations in the eastern North Pacific (Figure 7). Salmon sharks are believed
to utilize the southern extent of their range as nursery areas; in particular, the region along the
transition zone between the Subarctic and Central Pacific Currents (Nakano and Nagasawa,
1996) and the California Current (Goldman and Musick, 2006) are believed to be parturition
areas, suggesting that at least some of these large migrations may be reproductive in nature.
Ongoing satellite tracking is necessary to inform our understanding of annual migration
patterns and how those patterns change between years. In 2007, TOPP continued those ongoing
efforts and augmented them with new tagging techniques such as archival and acoustic tagging
and added valuable new time series data with our recovery of 8 pop-up satellite tags deployed on
sharks in prior years. Furthermore TOPP scientists and collaborators have increased their efforts
in eco-physiological studies. Salmon sharks remain important predators in both near shore
Alaskan and pelagic waters. The efforts of TOPP in 2007 continued to increase our
understanding of their movements, behaviors and environmental preferences while investigating
their physiological and genetic underpinnings. Our results reveal that salmon sharks have the
broadest thermal niche of lamnid sharks (from 2 to 24ºC) and can maintain body temperatures
over 20ºC above ambient water temperatures. The ability to survive and maintain high
physiological performance at these low temperatures is linked to their impressive endothermic
physiology and enhanced cardiac performance.
MARINE MAMMALS
The major effort over the grant period has been to prepare the marine mammal data to
enable efforts to define regional hot spots off California and Mexico. This requires the tracking
data to be first filtered, interpolated and then normalized for the number of tags deployed. This
task has been completed for most of the marine mammal data sets. We are now comparing yearly
habitat utilization plots for the different species and have begun the process of defining the
specific oceanographic features that defines the habitats.
Since 2002, TOPP researchers have deployed tracking, diving and environmental sensors
on a total of 134 California sea lions. This includes 81 adult females and 53 males from four
Figure 8. Yearly habitat utilization plots for male (4 boxes on left) and female (5 boxes on right) California sea lions.
breeding rookeries (Los Islotes Island and Isla Granito in the Gulf of California, and San Nicolas
and San Miguel Islands in the Channel Islands) and non-breeding areas within the National
Marine Sanctuary in Monterey. Interannual differences in movement patterns of both males and
females have been observed and correlated with environmental fluctuations (Weise et al. 2006,
Kuhn 2006; Figure 8). Investigations into sex differences at existing rookeries combined with
expansion to other rookeries is enabling TOPP to model the behavior of sea lions with respect to
fisheries interactions.
From 2000-2007, TOPP researchers have also deployed tags on 406 adult northern elephant
seals from two rookeries (Año Nuevo, CA and San Benitos Island, off Baja, Mexico) that span
the known breeding range for the species. Tracking seals from the extant range is providing the
first complete understanding of their foraging ecology throughout the North Pacific, as well as
identifying potential differences in the behavior and ecology of the two populations. Over the
grant period an additional 40 tags were deployed on female elephant seals, bringing the total
number of deployments to 179 adult northern elephant seals. These tracking data have now been
processed into seasonal habitat utilization plots (Figure 9).
Figure 9. (left) plot of all elephant seals tracks collected from 2004-2008; (right) seasonal habitat utilization plots
for female elephant seals over the same time period.
During 2007, TOPP researchers deployed 10 tags on blue whales. In addition to these
deployments, we have proceeded to process the existing data. We have processed all humpback
and blue whale tracking data and produced habitat utilization plots. (Figure 10).
Figure 10: Habitat utilization plots for blue (left) and humpback (right) whales.
SEABIRDS
Albatrosses and shearwaters are highly migratory species, traveling widely across entire
ocean basins passing through many territorial regions. The California Current is a major
destination for seabirds traveling as far away as New Zealand (Shaffer et al. 2006) to exploit the
rich waters of the California Current System (CCS). However, the residency patterns, habitat
use, and oceanic features that seabirds potentially key in on are still not well understood given
the dynamic nature of the CCS. Therefore, TOPP researchers have focused on characterizing the
at-sea behavior of albatrosses and shearwaters in relation to spatial and temporal oceanographic
features of the CCS. The following is a brief overview of some ongoing analyses and subsequent
results.
Figure 11. Utilization distribution kernels of
Black-footed albatrosses within the CCS in
Jun-Sep 2005.
Previous research has shown that Blackfooted albatrosses travel from breeding colonies
in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) to
the west coast of the US and Canada to forage
within the CCS during breeding (Hyrenbach et
al. 2002). However, visits to the CCS are
typically on the order of days because adults
must return to feed their chicks. What parent bird
do after breeding is still not well understood. We
have now tracked adult albatrosses during the
post breeding exodus and their subsequent return
to breeding, a period lasting ca. 160 days. Using
archival data loggers, our data show that Blackfooted albatrosses from Tern Island (NWHI)
spend several months within the CCS (Figure 11)
whereas Laysan albatrosses from the same
colony remain in the cooler waters of the central
North Pacific (Shaffer et al. in prep). The
oceanographic conditions that Black-footed
albatrosses experience within the CCS, warmer
water temperatures, higher productivity, and
Figure 12. Oceanographic parameters within each
UD contour for Black-footed and Laysan
albatrosses in 2005.
lower sea surface height were quite different
compared to oceanic conditions that Laysan
Figure 13. The overlap of albatross
distributions, based on satellite tracking
data, within the California Current System
and EEZ’s. Data are from Henry et al.
unpublished.
albatrosses experiences (Figure 12). These differences in oceanography highlight the
productivity of the CCS, which is characterized by pronounced upwelling. Albatrosses that use
the CCS also face considerable risk of endangerment from interactions with fisheries. In an effort
to assist resource managers, we have been working closely with government (NOAA and
USFWS) and NGO’s (BirdLife International, GECI and CICESCE in Mexico) to evaluate the
risks of albatross bycatch within the CCS (southern portion). We have now obtained information
from Mexican fisheries operating within the CCS that three Laysan albatrosses banded (one
equipped with an archival tag) by us at Guadalupe Island, Mexico were killed in shark long line
fishing fleets. Our tracking data clearly shows a pronounced overlap between Laysan albatrosses
from Guadalupe within the CCS and within at least three different EEZ’s (Figure 13, from Henry
et al. unpublished) it is clear, these birds require multi-national protection. Our effort could not
be timelier as Black-footed albatrosses are under consideration by the USFWS for listing as an
endangered species. TOPP data and expertise have also contributed to USFWS species status
assessment reports and a new action plan, and is helping to push US legislators into joining the
International Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). TOPP now
has the largest tracking database for North Pacific Albatrosses and we are collaborating with
several folks conducting albatross bycatch and population modeling efforts.
No recent tagging has been conducted on
the sooty and pink-footed shearwaters, rather
TOPP investigators are focusing on data analysis
and writing. In 2006, we published our research
that showed sooty shearwater migrations to the
North Pacific (Shaffer et al. 2006). Six of these
birds went to the coast of California, Oregon, and
Mexico (Figure 14). Currently, we are focusing on
the habitat use and spatio-temporal patterns of
distribution similar to our albatross research
(Shaffer et al. in review). Analyses are ongoing.
To date, 380 Laysan and 198 Black-footed
Albatrosses and 97 Sooty and 22 Pink-footed
Shearwaters have been tagged with satellite
transmitters, GPS, or geolocation loggers. Tag
recoveries average between 60-90% so TOPP
researchers have been able to tag so many
individuals with a relatively small number of tags.
Figure 14. Utilization distribution
kernels of sooty shearwaters within the
California Current System. Six birds
remained in the CCS from May to
September 2005.
DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSES
TOPP has established one of the most far-reaching marine data collection systems under the sea
(http://las.pfeg.noaa.gov/TOPP/TOPP_tracks.html). The increased sophistication of tag sensors
along with miniaturization of tags has enabled the TOPP team to build this common TOPP
undersea network based on animal platforms. Managing the data flow has required the
construction of a novel data management system to assimilate multiple types of data files from
extended animal missions and maintain reliable communications between top data servers
(Stanford, UCSC). The digital challenge is enormous, yet TOPP programmers at Stanford, UCSC
and NOAA capture this data stream from animals equipped with a variety of tags and continuously
monitor the tagged animals swimming through their oceanic environment. The data flow into a
distributed server system at Stanford and UCSC where data are archived and backed up in a series
of relational databases. These data are then served and integrated with oceanographic data at a
second portal (live access server) operated by our NOAA partners that focuses on display,
oceanographic integration, and serving of the information to the public.
2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT & INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
TOPP management is composed of three senior principal investigators, Drs. Barbara Block, Daniel
Costa and Steven Bograd. Barbara Block serves as the chief scientist and manages the fish sharks
and squid component of TOPP, Daniel Costa manages the marine mammals and bird component of
TOPP and the development of GPS and CTD tag technology, and Steven Bograd oversees the
TOPP interface with oceanography. TOPP data management is led by Mr. Alan Swithbank who
coordinates three full-time programmers (Stanford, UCSC) that work together to provide the data
infrastructure, archive, security and server support and function that supplies the entire TOPP
research team, the TOPP partner data sets, and NOAA. At NOAA, a single programmer, Lynn
DeWitt works part time for TOPP and provides the programming infrastructure and data
integration for linking the TOPP data set to the NOAA environmental data servers, Dr. Scott
Shaffer who liaisons with the seabird and marine mammals team and Dr. Steve Wilson coordinates
the fish, shark, sea turtles and squid teams.
3. 2008 EDUCATION & OUTREACH EFFORTS
TOPP.org is on the cutting edge of that movement, engaging the general public with interactive
graphics that are visually interesting, stories that explain the science by using multimedia tools,
providing a way for people to link to each other, and reaching out into social media. Our
approach has been featured in articles in the National Association of Science Writers newsletter
and on Poynter Online, a site for and about best practices in journalism. Our main goal for 2007
was to redesign, retool and reinvigorate TOPP’s Web site; develop a big project with Yahoo!
The TOPP site made a shift from its previous incarnation as a public relations/public information
vehicle (TOPPCensus.org) to operating as a news and ocean information site.
An excellent example of TOPP’s education and outreach projects in 2007-2008 was the
Great Turtle Race (http://www.greatturtlerace.com), which took 3.5 months to develop and
occurred April 16 – April 30. A collaborative project with Yahoo, Conservation International
and the Leatherback Trust, it was an overwhelming success, with more than three million visits
from more than 650,000 unique visitors, and a media outreach (thanks to Conservation
International’s media outreach team) to 137 million people, measured by total potential audience
for newspaper articles and television coverage. We created a preliminary TOPP.org site, which
linked only off the race site. It provided background information about the Great Turtle Race,
and widgets that people could download to their blogs and MySpace pages. Page views for
TOPP.org during the race totaled 52,428, with an average of 3,745 per day.
TOPP.org 2008 is intended to be managed by two people instead of three. It also allows
researchers to update their own profiles and publications, and contribute to the TOPP blog. Its
features include an interactive animated map, downloadable widgets, photo of the day, blog, RSS
feed of ocean news, ask-a-researcher, and feature stories, along with a list of TOPP researchers
and links to their profiles, TOPP data and publications, and an “In the News” section. TOPP
provided information for exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Seymour Center in Santa
Cruz, the Ocean Institute in Santa Barbara, and the Vancouver Aquarium, as well as a 2008
lecture series at Camp Pines in Southern California. We fielded inquiries from book authors,
magazine writers, newspaper reporters and television reporters. We worked closely with the
Monterey Bay Aquarium and MBARI to develop an information architecture for potential
content on Google Earth. We sent out two e-newsletters to our growing e-mailing list, and are
planning another for the first week in January 2008. We sent out announcements to ocean
science educators about our “sea school” pages that we developed for white sharks, leatherback
turtles, and black-footed albatross. We laid the foundation for a collaboration with California
State Parks Foundation and California State Parks for Elephant Seal Homecoming Days in
January 2008 to do media outreach
We created TOPP video channels on YouTube, Yahoo!, Google and Brightcove. We will
be putting all of our still photos on Flickr and on Slide.com. In addition to the turtles' MySpace
pages, two animals -- Omoo white shark and Penelope elephant seal -- have Facebook pages. As
of this writing, Penelope has 297 friends. NOAA's Information Exchange for Marine Educators
e-newsletter named TOPP.org site of the month for August 20007, and American Scientist
Online named it site of the week of July 23. It's been written up on several blogs, including those
on GristMill and Oceana.org.
We plan in 2008 to have Dr. Randy Kochevar return to take the helm of education and
outreach and several large media projects are being discussed including a 3h TOPP special for the
NGS TV cable channel and a 1h Cousteau special on TOPP science.
SOCIETAL BENEFITS, IMPACT & APPLICATIONS
Please describe examples of how (1) your findings have been applied or referenced in marine
policy, resource management/conservation or industrial practices and (2) how your technologies
or methodologies have been employed in operational monitoring and observations.
IMPACT AND APPLICATIONS
Ocean Observing Systems
Bio-logging science is an emerging field that bridges electronic tagging, biology, oceanography
and computer science. Advances in microprocessor-driven electronic tags have advanced our
ability to collect information on marine animals on an ecosystem scale. The TOPP team is
equipping animals with satellite and archival tags that provide data on the location of the animals
and the oceanic environment through which they travel. These newly developed electronic
tagging techniques are providing the means to elucidate the structure and function of open-ocean
ecosystems from the viewpoint of the top predators. In addition, the data collected by animals are
contributing to our ability to observe the circulation and physical patterns in the ocean on a
global scale. Animal-collected oceanographic data have a nearly untapped potential to contribute
to the developing global ocean observing system. The TOPP team has taken the first steps to
integrate across disciplines, combining the animal collected data with oceanographic data
sources. Such information will provide needed data for poorly sampled regions that can then be
used for developing and testing models. Sub-surface sampling has particular value, as these data
are the scarcest yet are critical for models of ocean-atmospheric coupling and global heat
balance.
Marine Ecosystem-based Resource Management
The major output of TOPP will be the ability examine or model the movements of pelagic
predators leading to a greater understanding of the North Pacific ecosystems. Ultimately, TOPP
will show us where marine mammals, tunas, seabirds, turtles and sharks go to feed and breed.
Moreover, TOPP will examine how the physical dynamics of North Pacific influence the
distribution and abundance of predators from a variety of trophic levels. The results should
provide information on how animals at different levels of the food web are coupled to oceanic
processes, where bottom-up effects enhance primary productivity. In essence, the results will
provide information on the key physical and biological processes involved in open-ocean
ecosystem dynamics. The data will be extremely important for fisheries management plans for
the U.S. and Mexican EEZ.
The acquisition of data on 23 species over multiple years will provide the necessary foundation
of information for developing predictive models of marine predator movements in relation to
environmental conditions. This level of understanding is required for dynamic, adaptive fisheries
management and provides the information needed to conserve and manage marine resources.
Furthermore, analyses are underway to compare animal distribution with fishing effort to provide
greater understanding of the interaction and risk for animals that are bycaught (e.g. seabirds,
turtles, and marine mammals).
Geographic Expansion
The CTD tags developed under an ONR grant have enabled a number of international programs
including SEAOS (Southern Elephant Seals as Oceanographers) and the International Polar Year
program MEOP (Marine Mammals as Oceanographers Pole to Pole). These projects are using
the CTD tag developed with NOPP support to further the use of marine animals as
oceanographic sensors, which includes investigators from the USA, UK, Canada, Norway,
Germany, South Africa, Australia, France and Brazil.
The data on physical and biological oceanography collected under the auspices of TOPP will be
made available to the regional and global oceanographic communities including NOAA Coast
Watch program, GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System), CIMT (Center for Integrated Marine
Technology), MBARI, ICON (Innovative Coastal-Ocean Observing Network), PISCO
(Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans), SIMoN (Sanctuary Integrated
Monitoring Network), MARS (Monterey Accelerated Research System) and AOSN
(Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network). Additional oceanographic data, especially sub-surface,
is critical to the expansion and improvement of oceanographic models including those coupling
atmospheric and oceanic processes. The Navy relies extensively on these models to provide
predictive forecasts to its operational fleet. Also, the development of technologies that allow
researchers to determine oceanic “hotspots” for marine vertebrates will allow fleet planners to
better evaluate whether Naval exercises will encounter specific marine animals. The TOPP
concept has generated considerable interest outside the North Pacific. At present there are four
international efforts under development that employ an approach similar to TOPP. These are the
Galapagos/ Cocos Ridge Seascape. Initiative, Novel Exploration of the Ocean (NEO), Southern
Ocean TOPP and Deep Sea Look (DSL).
TOPP expansion has also been occurring in the Pacific as more researchers have shown interest
in the TOPP effort. Scientists from TOPP have been at meetings in Chile, Japan and New
Zealand where projects were implemented to “partner” and share TOPP data management and
display resource in all locations. Pilot efforts in the Eastern Tropical Pacific with yellowfin tuna
and sharks this year have shown the feasibility of developing collaborative links for tunas and
shark species. Do to the lack of funding- there is not an effort to keep the expansion of TOPP
going.
Partnerships & Collaboration
Please identify any organizations, government agencies, science programs, and non-CoML
projects with which your CoML project has an affiliation and briefly describe the nature of each
relationship.
Tag A Giant
Barbara Block
Sharing resources and
technology
Sharing resources and
technology
Provided data and expertise to
world albatross conservation
Sharing resources and
technology
National Undersea Research
Program
Bird Life International
Dan Costa
Center for Integrated Marine
Technology: From Wind to
Whales
Malpelo Foundation, Costa Rica
Blue Water Fishing Inst., New
Zealand
Sea Mammal Research Unit
University of Austral de Chile
SARDI, South Australia
Gary Griggs
CSIRO
Jason Hartog
Google Oceans
Barbara Block/Steve Miller
John Croxall
Sandra Bessudo
John Holdsworth
Sharing Tagging Technology
Sharing Tagging Technology
Mike Fedak
Carlos Bustmante
Simon Goldsworthy
Sharing Tagging Technology
Sharing Tagging Technology
Sharing TOPP Data
management protocols
Sharing TOPP Data
Management protocols
Developing Education and
Outreach Effort
Liaisons to CoML Cross-Cutting Groups
Please identify the person within your project who is designated as the liaison to the following
projects and committees.
Project Name
Liaison Name & Institution
Nature of the Relationship
OBIS
FMAP
SCOR Tech Panel
POST
E&O
Alan Swithenback
Boris Worm, Ian Jonnsen
John Gunn, Geoff Arnold
George Jackson
Randy Kochevar
Visualization
James Ganong
TOPP Data Manager
Synthesis Projects Development
Discussions of Technology
Shark inclusion in POST array
TOPP Education and Outreach Network
Liaison
TOPP Visualization Coordinator
Appendix 1. TOPP Publications
2007
Blank, J. M., Morrisette, J.M., Farwell, C.J., Price, M., Schallert, R. and B. A. Block. 2007.
Temperature effects on metabolic rate of juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna (T. Orientalis) in
the lab and wild. 2007. J. Exp. Biol. 210: 4254-4261.
Costa, D. P. 2007. Seals and Sea Lions. in Encyclopedia of Tidepools. University of California
Press. Berkeley.
Davis, R. W., Jaquet, N., Gendron, D., Markaida, U., Bazzino, G. and Gilly, W. F. 2007. Diving
behavior of sperm whales in relation to the behavior of a major prey-species, the jumbo
squid, in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 333:291-302.
Gilly, W.F. 2007. Horizontal and vertical migrations of Dosidicus gigas in the Gulf of California
revealed by electronic tagging, in Olson, R.J. and Young, J.W. (Eds.), The role of squid
in open ocean ecosystems, GLOBEC Report 24:3-6.
Gilly, W.F. and Markaida, U. 2007. Perspectives on Dosidicus gigas in a changing world, in
Olson, R.J. and Young, J.W. (Eds.), The role of squid in open ocean ecosystems,
GLOBEC Report 24: 81-90.
Hassrick, J. L., D. E. Crocker, R. L. Zeno, S. B. Blackwell, D. P. Costa, and B. J. Le Boeuf.
2007. Swimming speed and foraging strategies of northern elephant seals. Deep-Sea Res.
II 54:369-383.
Kitagawa, T., Boustany, A., Farwell, C., Williams, T. D., Castleton, M., Block, B. A. 2007.
Horizontal and vertical movement of bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus orientalis, in
relationship to oceanography. Fish. Oceanogr. 16, 409-415.
Markaida, U., Rosas, R., Salinas, C. and Gilly, W. 2007. Trophic ecology of jumbo squid
Dosidicus gigas in the Gulf of California and adjacent waters in Olson, R.J. and Young,
J.W. (Eds.), The role of squid in open ocean ecosystems, GLOBEC Report 24: 3-6.
Peckham, S. H., D. Maldonado, A. Walli, G. Ruiz, W.J. Nichols and L. Crowder. 2007. Smallscale fisheries bycatch of Pacific loggerheads can rival that in large-scale oceanic
fisheries. PLoS Biology ONE 2(10) 1:6.
Rasmussen, K., D.M. Palacios, J. Calambokidis, M. Saborio, L. Dalla-Rosa, E. Secchi, G.
Steiger, J. Allen, and G. Stone. 2007. Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering
off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian
migration. Biol. Lett. 3(3):302-305.
Robinson, P. W., Y. Tremblay, D. E. Crocker, M. A. Kappes, C. E. Kuhn, S. A. Shaffer, S. E.
Simmons, and D. P. Costa. 2007. A comparison of indirect measures of feeding
behaviour based on ARGOS tracking data. Deep-Sea Res. II 54:356-368.
Sato, K., Y. Watanuki, A. Takahashi, P. Miller, H. Tanaka, R. Kawabe, P. Ponganis, Y.
Handrich, T. Akamatsu, Y. Watanabe, Y. Mitani, D. Costa, C. Bost, K. Aoki, M. Amano,
P. Trathan, A. Shapiro, and Y. Naito. 2007. Stroke frequency, but not swimming speed, is
related to body size in free-ranging seabirds, pinnipeds and cetaceans. Proc. Roy. Soc.
Lond. B 274:471-477.
Schaefer, K. M., Fuller, D. W and Block, B. A. 2007. Movements, behavior, and habitat
utilization of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean,
ascertained through archival tag data. Mar. Biol. 152 (3): 503-525.
Simmons, SE, Crocker, DE, Kudela, RM, Costa, DP (2007) Linking Foraging Behaviour of the
Northern Elephant seal with Oceanography and Bathymetry at Mesoscales. Mar. Eco.
Prog. Ser. 346, 265-275.
Sippel T. J., Davie P. S., Holdsworth J. C., Block B. A. (2007) Striped marlin (Tetrapturus
audax) movements and habitat utilization during a summer and autumn in the Southwest
Pacific Ocean. Fish. Oceanogr. 16: 459-472.
Tremblay, Y., Roberts, A. J., and Costa, D. P. 2007. Fractal landscape method: an alternative
approach to measuring area-restricted searching behavior. J. Exp. Biol. 210: 935-945.
Weise, M. J. and D. P. Costa. 2007. Total body oxygen stores and physiological diving capacity
of California sea lions as a function of sex and age. J. Exp. Biol. 210: 278-289.
Weng, K.C., Boustany, A., Pyle, P., Anderson, S., Brown, A. and Block, B. A. 2007. Migration
and habitat of white wharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Mar. Biol. 152: 877-894
Weng, K. C., O’Sullivan, J., Lowe, C., Winkler, C., Dewar, H., Block, B. A. 2007. Movements,
behavior and habitat preferences of juvenile white sharks in the eastern Pacific as
revealed by electronic tags. Mar. Eco. Prog. Ser. 338: 211–224.
2008
Bailey, H. R., Shillinger, G. L., Palacios, D. M., Bograd, S. J., Spotila, J. R., Wallace, B.,
Paladino, F. V., Eckert, S. A. and Block, B. A. 2008. Identifying and comparing phases
of movement by leatherback turtles using state-space models, J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.,
356, 128-135.
Bograd, S. J., Castro, C. G., Di Lorenzo, E., Palacios, D. M., Bailey, H. and Gilly, W. F. 2008.
The shoaling of the hypoxic boundary in the California Current, Geophys. Res. Lett. 35,
L12607, doi:10.1029/2008GL034185.
Burger, A. E. and Shaffer S. A. 2008. Application of tracking and data-logging technology in
research and conservation of seabirds. Auk, 125: 253-264.
Burns, J. M., M. A. Hindell, C. J. A. Bradshaw, and D. P. Costa. 2008. Fine-scale habitat
selection of crabeater seals as determined by diving behavior. Deep Sea Research Part II:
Topical Studies in Oceanography 55:500-514.
Charrassin, J.-B., Hindell, M. Rintoul, S.R., Roquet, F., Sokolov, S. Biuw, M., Costa, D.,
Boehme, L., Lovell, P., Coleman, R. Timmerman, R., Meijers, A., Meredith, M., Park,
Y.-H., Bailleul, F., Tremblay, Y., Bost, C.-A., McMahon, C.R., Field, I.C., Fedak, M.A.
and Guinet, C. 2008. Southern Ocean frontal structure and sea ice formation rates
revealed by elephant seals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 105, 11634-11639.
Costa, D. P., J. M. Klinck, E. E. Hofmann, M. S. Dinniman, and J. M. Burns. 2008. Upper ocean
variability in West Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf waters as measured using
instrumented seals. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 55:323337.
Di Lorenzo, E., N. Schneider, K.M. Cobb, P.J. Franks, K. Chhak, A.J. Miller, J.C. McWilliams,
S.J. Bograd, H. Arango, E. Curchister, T.M. Powell, and P. Riviere, 2008. North Pacific
Gyre Oscillation links ocean climate and ecosystem change, Geophysical Research
Letters, doi:10.1029/2007GL032838.
McDonald, B. I., D. E. Crocker, J. M. Burns, and D. P. Costa. 2008. Body condition as an index
of winter foraging success in crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga). Deep Sea
Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 55:515-522.
Shillinger, G. L., Palacios, D. M., Bailey, H. R., Bograd, S. J., Swithenbank, A., Gaspar, P.,
Wallace, B., Spotila, J. R., Paladino, F. V., Piedra, R., Eckert, S. A., and Block, B.A.
2008. Ocean currents shape the migration and dispersal of eastern Pacific leatherback
turtles, PLOS Biol.
Shaffer, S. A. 2008. Albatross flight performance and energetics. In Albatrosses: Their World,
Their Ways (De Roy, T., Jones, M., and Fitter, J. eds). David Bateman Ltd., Aukland,
New Zealand, pp. 152-153.
Villegas-Amtmann, S, Costa, D. P, Tremblay, Y, Aurioles-Gamboa, D & Salazar, S. Multiple
foraging strategies in a marine apex predator, the Galapagos sea lion. Mar. Eco. Prog.
Ser. 363: 299–309.
Wilson, C., Villareal, T. A., Maximenko, N., Bograd, S. J., Montoya, J. P. and Schoenbaechler,
C. A. 2008. Biological and physical forcings of late summer chlorophyll blooms at 30°N
in the oligotrophic Pacific. J. Mar. Syst. 69, 164-176.
Zeno, R. L., D. E. Crocker, D. L. Hassrick, S. G. Allen, and D. P. Costa. 2008. Development of
foraging behavior in juvenile northern elephant seals. Journal of Zoology (London)
274:180-187.
Publications in Press
Benoit-Bird, K. J., Gilly, W. F., Au, W. W. L. and Mate, B. 2008. Controlled and in situ target
strengths of the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas and identification of potential acoustic
scattering sources. J. Acoust. Soc. Am: In Press.
Costa, D.P. and Shaffer. S.A. 2008. Physiological Constraints on the Foraging Ecology and
Energetics of Albatrosses and Other Large Seabirds International Congress Series.in
press
Holdsworth, J., Sippel, T. and Block, B. A. Near real time satellite tracking of Striped Marlin
(Tetrapturus audax) movements in the Pacific Ocean. Mar. Biol.
Oleson, E. M., Calambokidis, J., Burgess, W. C., McDonald, M. A., LeDuc, C. A. and
Hildebrand, J. A. 2008. Behavioral context of Northeast Pacific Blue Whale call
production. Mar. Eco. Prog. Ser. In Press.
Robinson, P.W., Villegas-Amtmann, S., Costa, D.P. 2008. Field Validation of an Inexpensive
Time-Depth Recorder. Marine Mammal Science in press.
Saba, V. S., Shillinger, G. L., Swithenbank, A. M., Block, B. A., Spotila, J. R., Musick, .A.,
Paladino, F. V. An oceanographic context for the foraging ecology of eastern Pacific
leatherback turtles: Consequences of ENSO and coastal gillnet fisheries. Deep-Sea Res.
I. In Press.
Staaf, D.J., Camarillo-Coop, S., Haddock, S.H.D., Nyack, A.C., Payne, J., Salinas-Zavala, C.A.,
Seibel, B.A., Trueblood, L., Widmer, C. and Gilly, W. F. 2008. Natural egg mass
deposition by the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Gulf of California and
characteristics of hatchlings and paralarvae. U. Mar. Biol. Assn. U.K.: In Press.
Wells, B. K., Field, J. C., Thayer, J. A., Grimes, C. B., Bograd, S. J., Sydeman, W. J., Schwing,
F. B., and Hewitt, R. 2008. Untangling the relationship between climate, prey, and top
predators in an ocean ecosystem, Mar. Eco. Prog. Ser. In Press.
Publications in Review
Bazzino, G., Gilly, W. F., Markaida, U., Salinas, C. and Ramos, J. Horizontal migrations,
vertical habitat utilization and diet of the jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Pacific
Ocean off Baja California Sur, Mexico. Prog. Oceanogr.
Boustany, A. M., Matteson, R., Castleton, M., Farwell, C., Block, B. A. Movements of Pacific
bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) in the eastern North Pacific revealed with archival tags.
Prog. Oceanogr.
Gilly, W. F., Markaida, U., Boustany, A., Moore-Kochlacs, C., Block, B. A., Robison, B.,
Zeidberg, L., Trueblood, L. A. and Seibel, B. Exploitation of the oxygen minimum layer
by the jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas, in the Gulf of California. Mar. Eco. Prog. Ser.
Goldbogen, J. A., Calambokidis, J., Croll, D. A., Harvey, J. T., Hildebrand, J. A., Newton, K.,
Oleson, Robert, E. M. Shadwick, E. and Shorr, G. Foraging behavior of humpback
whales: kinematic and respiratory patterns associated with prey type and lunge frequency.
Mar. Eco. Prog. Ser.
Irvine, L. and Mate, B. R.. Characterizing the diel dive habits of blue whales off California. Mar.
Mamm. Sci.
Kappes, M. A., Shaffer, S. A., Tremblay, Y., Foley, D. G., Palacios, D. M., Robinson, P. W.,
Bograd, S. J., and Costa, D. P. Hawaiian albatrosses track interannual variability of
marine habitats in the North Pacific. Prog. Oceanogr.
Kuhn, C. E., D. E. Crocker, Y. Tremblay, and D. P. Costa. Time to eat: Measuring at-sea feeding
behavior of a large marine predator, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris).
J. Animal Ecol.
Kurota, H., McAllister, M., Lawson, G., Noguiera, J., Teo, S. L. H. and Block, B. A. A
sequential Bayesian method to estimate movements and exploitation rates using
electronic and conventional tag data. Can. J. Fish. Aqua. Sci. In revision.
Lagerquist, B. A., Mate, B. R. and Urban-Ramirez, J. Movements and surfacing rates of satellitemonitored humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) tagged at Socorro Island,
Mexico. Can. J. Zool.
Markaida, U., Gilly, W. F, Salinas-Zavala, C., Rosas-Luis and Booth, A. Food and feeding of
jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas, in the Gulf of California during 2005-2007. CalCOFI
Reports.
Mitani, Y. Sato, K. Biuw, M. Charrassin, J. B, Field, I. Costa, D. P., LeBoeuf, B. J. and Naito, Y.
Saving energy or time?: Dive angles and stroke patterns of elephant seals during transit
dives and foraging dives. J. Exp. Biol.
O’Dor, R., Block, B. A., Gilly, W. F., Jackson, G. and Stewart, J. Understanding the mysteries of
squids in ecosystems with the Ocean Tracking Network. Prog. Oceanogr.
Shaffer, S. A., Weimerskirch, H., Scott, D., Pinaud, D., Thompson, D. R., Sagar, P. M., Moller,
H., Taylor, G. A., D.G. Foley, Y. Tremblay, and Costa, D. P. Spatio-temporal habitat use
of breeding Sooty Shearwaters. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.
Staaf, D. J., Camarillo-Coop, S. Haddock, S. H. D., Nyack, A. C., Payne, J., Ramirez-Rojo, R.,
Salinas-Zavala, C. A., Seibel, B. A., Trueblood, L., Widmer, C. and Gilly, W. F. Natural
egg mass deposition by the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Gulf of California
and characteristics of paralarvae. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK.
Suryan, R. M., Anderson, D. J., Shaffer, S. A., Roby, D. D., Tremblay, Y., Costa, D. P., Sato, F.,
and Ozaki, K. (submitted) Wind, waves, and wing loading: Their relative importance to
the at-sea distribution and movements of North and Central Pacific albatrosses. PLoS
One.
Teo, S., Perle, C. and Block, B. A. A new method for measuring in situ chlorophyll in the ocean.
PLoS.
Tremblay, Y., Robinson, P. W., Antolos, M., Crocker, D. E., Kuhn, C. E., Shaffer, S. A.,
Simmons, S. A., and Costa, D. P. Convergence of foraging strategies between marine
top-predators. Funct. Ecol.
Vetter, R., Kohin, S., Preti, A., McClatchie, S., Dewar, H. Predatory interactions between mako
shark, Isurus oxyrinchus, and jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas, in the California Current.
CalCOFI Reports.
Weise, M. J., Harvey, J. T., Costa, D. P. The Role of Body Size on the Foraging Behavior of an
apex predator, the California sea lion, Zalophus californianus. Ecology.
TOPP Synthesis Plan
I. Context and Questions
TOPP intends to focus synthesis efforts on developing major themes from the data generated
from over 4,000 TOPP predators tagged in the past decade. Synthesis activities will explore
common movement patterns and habitat use of pelagic predators within the dynamic ocean realm
of the Pacific. Knowledge of the relationships between pelagic predator movements and ocean
processes is lacking, but is essential for understanding animal distribution, managing interactions
with anthropogenic activities, and predicting responses to climate change. Synthesis projects will
include mapping top predator hot spots across the decade of tagging, understanding threedimensional habitat use in the context of oceanographic processes, and describing regional,
seasonal and interannual variability in animal distributions. Outputs will include publications in
peer-reviewed journals, major synthetic reviews, and potentially a book focused on TOPP
predator use of the North Pacific. Outputs will also include defining the “Yellowstone Park” of
the North Pacific. One major outcome might be a zoning map for how best to protect top
predators in the eastern Pacific.
TOPP has been at the forefront of biologging science. During the synthesis phase, we plan
several events to synergize the tagging community, including the creation of a common web
portal for Top Predators interfaced with Google oceans and a common oceanographic portal for
animal oceanographers. Additionally we plan a set of workshops to discuss integration of our
technologies with OTN technologies.
Topics
GTOPP.org
Leaders
Drs. Block, Costa, Bograd,
Fedak, Gunn, Kovacs,
Goldsworthy, Metcalfe, and
Shaffer
Purpose
A meeting to act upon the
universal interest to build a
global portal that makes
available all ocean data from
electronic tagging data bases.
Biologging III
Drs. Block, Costa, Bograd,
Shaffer
Mapping California Current
and North Pacific Transition
Zone Hot Spots
Drs. Block, Bograd, Costa,
Tremblay, Shaffer and
Mr. Ganong
Oceanographic Basis of
Marine Predator Movements
Drs. Jonsen, Block, Costa,
and Bograd
A synthetic meeting aimed at
bringing the worlds
electronic taggers together to
discuss the latest
developments in tracking
technology, mapping and
visualization techniques.
Identify the hot spots in the
California Current and the
distribution of TOPP
predators on an annual and
interannual scale
Understand how animals
move in a heterogeneous and
dynamic ocean environment
Guild Ecological Habitat Use Drs. Mate, Dewar, Block,
Gilly, Costa, and Shaffer
Accounting for Animal
Oceanographers
Drs. Block, Fedak,
Gunn, Costa, Bograd, and
Doug McClain
Integrating Tag Technologies Drs. Block, Costa, Jackson,
between TOPP, POST &
and O’Dor
OTN
Comparative study of how
members of the same
ecological guilds use
common oceanographic
habitats
A global map of how animals
are profiling the global
oceans, with an emphasis on
the TOPP project
A series of workshops
beginning in the fall of 2009
aimed at mapping the path
toward integration of
satellite, archival and
acoustic tag technologies
II. Synthesis management
a.
Lead synthesis writers
Barbara Block, Dan Costa, Steven Bograd, and Scott Shaffer, Randy Kochevar
b.
Synthesis team and individual’s responsibilities for project synthesis and
overall deliverables to the CoML
Name
Barbara A. Block, Stanford
University
Contact
bblock@stanford.edu
Responsibilities
 Synthesis coordination
 Hot spots
 Oceanographic Profiles
 Synthesis coordination
 Hot spots
 Guild Ecology
 Hot spots
 Oceanographic
Integration
Daniel Costa, UC Santa
Cruz
costa@biology.ucsc.edu
Steven Bograd, NOAAERD
Steven.Bograd@noaa.gov
Scott Shaffer, UC Santa
Cruz
shaffer@biology.ucsc.edu
Ian Jonsen, Dalhousie
University
ianjonsen@gmail.com
Sal Jorgensen, Stanford
University
Steve Wilson, Stanford
salvo@stanford.edu
 Synthesis coordination
 Hot spots
 Guild Ecology
 The oceanographic
basis of marine predator
movements.
 Advancing State
Spaced models
 Guild Ecology
sgwilson@stanford.edu

Mapping and GIS
University
Mike Castleton, Stanford
University
mrcastle@stanford.edu
rkochevar@hotmail.com
Randy Kochevar, Stanford
University
efforts
 Mapping and GIS
Efforts
 Education and outreach
synthesis, TV productions
III. Synthesis Products
a.
Overall deliverable to CoML
In December 2009, TOPP will submit its contribution to the project synthesis volume. We plan
to have a small workshop to discuss contributions from various working group leaders in
November 2008. The writing phase will follow.
TOPP contribution to the Project Synthesis Volume (Plan):
1. The Known (Status of discipline prior to Census)
- What was known about the distribution of marine top predators
* Tagging prior to TOPP
* Interactions between fisheries and top predators
2. From Unknown to Known (Evolution of Tagging in the Eastern Pacific)
2.1 Trends of diversity and distribution in the North Pacific Ocean
- The California Current as a biodiversity hotspot
- Hawaiian Islands as a biodiversity hot spot
- Importance of oceanographic features as foraging zones
- Use of mesoscale features by top predators
- Interannual variability in top predator distribution and habitat use
2.2 Continental Margin Seascapes
- Where can management and conservation strategies be most effective?
- Roles of oceanographic interaction with coastal habitat heterogeneity in generating and
maintaining hot spots along the North American shoreline
2.3 Habitat Use and Ecology of Pelagic Guilds
- Lamnid Sharks
- Thunnus Tunas
- Seabirds
- Pinnipeds
- Cetaceans
- Sea Turtles
2.4 Human influence on pelagic ecosystems of the continental margin
- Current Management of the CCS for marine mammals, seabirds, fish, and sharks
2.5 Climate change scenarios
- How will climate change affect top predator distributions and habitat use?
3. The Currently Unknown (Remaining gaps in our understanding of the Pelagic realm)
- Current limits to our knowledge
4. How Can We Move From Unknowable to Knowable (Novel approaches to resolve the
currently “impossible”)?
- Why we need to push the limits
- Advances in tag technologies
- Advances in habitat modeling
- Advances in data visualization and distribution
- Blueprint for the future (beyond 2010)
5. Conclusions (Major findings and major gaps, how to move forward)
- Including practical suggestions on how knowledge/understanding might be moved
forward from here
- The importance of recognizing the uniqueness of populations within the CCS and Eastern
North Pacific
b.
Project-Specific Products
For Scientific Audiences
Outputs
For Scientific Audiences
A Major paper on animals as Oceanographers
Biologging III
A Special Issue with an Overview of latest achievements in the
field of biologging presented at the Third International
symposium
A Marine Review on Tracking Giants
Lead author & Deadline
Fedak & Costa, August 2008
Costa, Block and Bograd
editors of a special volume of
major
Biologging
III
contributions. 2009
Block & Costa for Marine
Reviews to be submitted in
2009
Top Predator Habitat Use in the North Pacific
Costa. Block, Bograd, Shaffer
Tremblay,
et
al.
2009
anticipated publication for
major journal.
Top Predator Hot Spot Use in the California Current
Block, Bograd, Costa, Shaffer
et
al.
2009
anticipated
publication for major journal.
A special issue on how Guilds use the California Current
Block, Costa, Bograd, Shaffer
Others
Several papers comparing distribution and behavior of Ingole et al. - manuscript to be
loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle populations
submitted in 2010, Shillinger,
Bailey, et al
Outputs
Animals as Oceanographers
Lead author & Deadline
A series of papers including
one in press at PNAS 2008,
designed to highlight animal
contributions to oceanography
For the General Public
Wandering the Deep Blue (A children’s book based on TOPP)
The Lives of Open Ocean Animals
Tagging of Pacific Pelagics: Mapping How Predators Use the
California Current
Pam Turner
2009 Publication
Block, Costa, Shaffer, Bograd,
Castleton and others.
Cambridge Press, 2010.
An Auditorium Exhibition featuring a permanent TOPP video Monterey Bay Aquarium and
and auditory program to educate visitors to the Monterey Bay Block, Kochevar, Exhibit Staff
Aquarium on the TOPP program
Expected completion 2009
A contribution to the exhibition Ocean Hall on Tracking Bluefin Block, September 2009
Tuna, Opening of the Ocean Hall talk on “Tracking Giants”
TOPP Tagging Giants, a 3h special for National Geographic Sea Studios, 2010
TV
For Conservation Stakeholders, Off Shore Industry and Environmental agencies
Paper on development of integrative model methods for using Taylor et al. 2009
mark recapture for assessment science for tuna fisheries.
Several papers illustrating albatross distribution and fisheries Zydelis et al. 2009, Hoyle et al.
bycatch, including a model that shows the impacts on 2009
population dynamics
Continued involvement in ACAP (Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels)
c.
Cross-Project Products
TOPP is still developing Cross-Project Products. However, we have received some funding to
conduct a workshop at Biologging III that will have some capacity to help in the development of
these synthetic ouputs.
Type of Product
Invited Leader
Diversity Topics
1. A complete list of named species
Edward Vanden
Berghe
2. Marine species pages for 230,000 Edward Vanden
species
Berghe
3. Barcodes for 50,000+ species Dirk Steinke,
covering broad taxonomic range
Ann Bucklin,
Nancy Knowlton
5. Estimates of unknown species
Derek Tittensor,
Edward Vanden
Berghe
Funding
TOPP Relevant?
OBIS
NA
OBIS
Shaffer, Wilson
BOLD
NA
Synthesis
Group
NA
Type of Product
6. Trends in diversity past to future
Invited Leader
Heike Lotze,
Boris Worm,
Camilo Mora
Distribution Topics
7. Range maps for 80,000+ species
Edward Vanden
Berghe,
Pat Halpin
8. New global biogeography(ies), Mark Costello,
zonation, (communities/biomes)
Pat Halpin,
Paul Snelgrove
10. Geography of biodiversity Boris Worm,
hotspots (and coldspots).
Barbara Block,
Pat Halpin
12. Relationship of community types, Roland Pitcher,
diversity or species distribution to Peter Lawton
habitat
Abundance Topics
13. Fresh estimates of biomass by Elva Escobar,
trophic and/or species levels in all Gilbert Rowe
realms
14. Fresh estimate of changes in size Boris Worm
distribution of animals
Funding
FMAP
TOPP Relevant?
NA
M&V,
Synthesis
Group
Synthesis
Group
Castleton,
Swithenbak, Wilson
Synthesis
Group
Block, Costa, Bograd
Synthesis
Group
Dewar, Jorgensen,
Weng
Synthesis
Group
Taylor
Wilson, Castleton
Synthesis NA
Group,
FMAP
Cross-cutting Topics: Diversity+Distribution+Abundance
15. Oceans past & present as No
leader Synthesis
precursors for Oceans Future (both identified
Group
worse and better).
16. The “roles of the rare.” – what Mitch Sogin
Synthesis Costa
rare species do.
Group
17. “Deeper than light” – life where Eva
Ramirez- Synthesis Block, Wilson,
sunlight is absent.
Llodra
Group
Jorgensen
18. “Changing Oceans” – relative Boris Worm,
FMAP
Block, Boustany,
role of fisheries, habitat change, Camilo Mora
Wilson, Bograd
climate variability etc.
19. Estimates of what has been lost No
leader Synthesis B. Block
or might be lost soon
Group
identified
20. Census technologies for a Ed Urban
SCOR
Block, Costa, Fedak
“transparent ocean”
technolog
y panel
IV. Visualization and Mapping
TOPP scientists have been at the forefront of developing visualization and mapping techniques
to demonstrate how animals use the oceans. We will produce high resolution maps and movies of
the movements, distribution, and habitats of TOPP predators for the 2010 synthesis.
Data Visualisations to be prepared
-
TOPP data set on oceanographic environmental information from 2002-2010
Individual TOPP species by year and through entire time series
Data rendered views to provide 4-D environment (fly-throughs with seabirds, white
sharks, blue whales)
Hot Spot Maps, Zones
V. Synthesis timelines
Dates
August 29-30 2008
September 1-5, 2008
September 27, 2008
December 2008
June 2009
November 2009
September 2009
December 2009
TBD 2009
October 2010
Items
GTOPP workshop, Monterey, California
Workshop on building a global portal for
tagging and oceanographic data from
animals
Biologging III: International Tagging
Meeting, Monterey, CA.
Opening of the Ocean Hall, Electronic
Tagging of Large Predators
Google TOPP Pages Released (GTOP)
Animal Ocean Portal Completed
Leaders or Contacts
Block
Block, Costa, Bograd
Block
Block
Block, Swithenbank,
Fedak
Grant to Sloan for TOPP Synthesis Final Block, Costa, Bograd
Year
Deliver Marine Review on Tagging of Block, Costa
Ocean Giants
Submission of TOPP contribution to the Costa, Block,
CoML Volume
Bograd, Shaffer
Provide
information
for
National Castleton, Ganong
Geographic Maps
Census “Grand Finale”
TOPP Participation
PROJECT MILESTONES - TOPP
Key:
Potential obstacles to a Milestone are noted in red
Milestone Status:
Achieved indicated by ●
In progress and on track indicated by ●
Slow or hindered progress indicated by
●
Stalled or unsatisfactory results indicated by
Category 1: Participation
●
Questions to consider: Does your network include enough researchers and other professionals to get the job done?
Do more people need to be engaged, and, if so, from what disciplines, countries or regions? What would be the most
important or meaningful milestones in participation in your project? Milestones might, for example, be in terms of
disciplines represented, number of countries engaged, numbers and kinds of people (such as grad students), national
or regional representation on your Steering Group, or links to NRICs.
2007
Milestone
Renewed support for graduate students
involved in tagging projects
●
Comments
Achieved
Renew support for post-doctoral researchers
involved in oceanographic integration
●
Achieved
Recruit a post-doc for habitat modeling
●
Achieved
Recruit and hire a post-doctoral research for
state-space modeling of animal movement
●
Achieved
Hire visualization and GIS related specialist
for producing more visual web products
●
Achieved
Collaborate with team that can develop
curriculum materials with tracking data
●
Achieved
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
Renewed support for graduate students
involved in tagging projects
●
Comments
In progress and on track
Renew support for postdocs
●
In progress and on track
Engage Google in our Education and
Outreach efforts
●
In progress and on track
Hire replacement for Education and Outreach
leadership
●
In progress and on track, Dr.
Randy Kochevar will rejoin
TOPP team in Oct. 2008
Achieved in Sept. 2008
Have Entire Biologging Community to
Monterey for a Conference: Biologging III
Timeframe
Status
Status
●
●
Solve Data transfer to OBIS by coming up
With formats that Satisfy all Parties
2009
Milestone
Timeframe
Renewed support for graduate students
involved in tagging projects
●
Comments
In progress and on track
Renewed support for post-doctoral
researchers in oceanographic integration
●
In progress and on track
Renew support for modelers
●
In progress and on track
Transfer 50% of TOPP DATA to OBIS
●
●
Working out codes to do this
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
In progress and on track
Synthesis Projects for Ocean Observation
Syhthesis projects for Tracking
2010
Milestone
Timeframe
Status
Working out a Solution to
this problem
●
Synthesis Continues
Category 2: Funding Commitments
Questions to consider: What commitments in money, shiptime, or other resources does your project need to succeed
in making a big contribution to the CoML by 2010? When will you need to submit proposals in order to win
commitments in time to carry out the work? When will key decisions about commitments occur?
2008
Milestone
Funding needed to work on GTOPP.org
portal to build open portal for animal
oceanography
Education and Outreach Funding
Development of curriculum materials
with TOPP tracking data
2009
Milestone
Synthesis Funding: We seek $500K per
year to help fund the grad students
and post-docs involved in the synthesis
work
Timeframe
Status
●
●
soon
In progress
●
Timeframe
2009-2010
Status
●
Comments
In progress and on track
TOPP is out of funding for E
and O.
In progress and on track
Comments
Concern as to what sources
will fund such activities
2010
Milestone
Timeframe
Status
Comments
Category 3: Partnerships
Questions to consider: What are the key partnerships and alliances needed to make your project a big success? These
might be with national governmental agencies, intergovernmental organizations, domestic or international NGOs,
private firms, other CoML projects, CoML NRICs, other scientific projects, etc. These might be with individuals.
For example, who are the five individuals in the world who can most significantly impact your project’s success,
and are they constructively engaged? Target partnerships might be important because they: 1) are crucial to the
conduct of your project or components of your project; 2) will broaden the impact of your project (e.g.,
stakeholders); or 3) will increase the global coverage of your project (e.g., sampling or data coverage). With these
questions in mind, what will be the Milestones in your partnerships and alliances?
2007
Milestone
Timeframe
TOPP, POST, and OTN exploring
relationship to work together
Possibly consider a proposal for a SCOR
Working Group on Animals as Ocean
Sensors
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
●
In progress and on track
Status
Status
●
●
Google.org
2010
Milestone
In progress and on track
●
Timeframe
Timeframe
Comments
●
●
Held first SCOR meeting with researchers
from CEFAS, SMRU, OTN, NPI, CSIRO,
SARDI, NOAA, and TOPP
TOPP hosting 3rd International Biologging
Conference with special symposium on
animal tracking
2009
Milestone
Develop GTOPP Global Ocean portal
Status
Status
Comments
Achieved. First meeting held on
30-31 August 2008. More
meetings planned.
Achieved on 05 September
2008
Comments
In progress and on track
In progress and on track
Comments
Category 4: Program Management
Please consider organizational/managerial resources and processes necessary to ensure the success of your project,
such as: (1) Adequacy of people: How does your team work? Are there positions that should be created/filled? (2)
Form of organization: What could make your offices/centers/networks work more effectively? Do you have a good
steering group? Do you have liaisons with other CoML components? Do you have good sub-contractors to carry
out practical tasks? (3) Management information systems: Are your websites and listserves serving the project well
internally? Are your periodic reports to CoML helpful to you? Are you getting useful feedback from the SSC and
Sloan? How good is your process for tracking activities across the project? With these questions in mind, what
would be the most significant Milestones in strengthening your program management and indicating its success?
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
Renew and retain funding for all staff
positions
●
Comments
In progress and ongoing
Hire Back Randy Kochevar for Education
and Outreach
●
In progress and ongoing
Status
Comments
In progress and ongoing
2009
Milestone
Timeframe
Retain funding for all programmers, postdocs and graduate students
2010
Milestone
Timeframe
Status
●
Status
Comments
Category 5: Observations made or otherwise obtained
Questions to consider: What cruises, field work or data mining activities are needed? When do these activities need
to occur (thus iterate with Category 2 about when proposals or other commitments would need to be in place)? Keep
in mind new plans for global expansion of projects, as well as observations/data required to meet your current 2010
goals. What will be the Milestones in obtaining observations such as completing cruises or transects?
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
Continue major tagging efforts in California
Current
Test operational models for predicting habitat
use, animal movements and biological
hotspots in North Pacific
2009
Milestone
Timeframe
Identify and chart Pacific Basin hotspots and
oceanographic features that define them
Test Pacific Ocean circulation models using
animal-derived data
2010
Milestone
Timeframe
Status
Comments
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
Category 6: Scientific Results; Societal Outcomes; Legacies
Questions to consider: When might you expect major insights in various areas or subjects? When might some
change occur in society as a result of what you have learned or done, for example: designation of a marine protected
area; building or transitioning into a component of the ocean observing system; changing policy or management
practices; or establishment of a Center of Excellence?
2007
Milestone
Timeframe
Greater integration with oceanographic
toolkits for understanding the oceanographic
processes that affect top level predators
Spatial modeling and the development of
oceanic “hotspots” that aggregate TOPP
species
Addition of large amounts of oceanographic
data to NODC
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
Timeframe
Deliver work plan (guidelines) to
conservation and governmental agencies
responsible for creating and maintaining
place-based MPAs and mitigating incidental
fisheries bycatch in the Pacific
Synthesis of the TOPP discoveries to include
analysis of: Population use of Pacific wide
hotspot regions and connectivity among
populations; Species interaction and tropic
overlap among TOPP predators; Interannual
variations in oceanic condition and their
effects on top predators; Based on the above,
create predictive models to evaluate future
climate change
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
In progress and on track
Status
●
Synthesis and final recommendations by
December 2009 will inform NOAA,
PACOOS, IATTC on habitat utilization and
zoning information
2010
Milestone
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
Continue efforts at defining management
zones for pelagics and conservation zones
based on the data outcomes from TOPP
2009
Milestone
Status
Timeframe
Status
Comments
In progress and on track
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Category 7: Tangible Outputs
Questions to consider (think in terms of obvious measurable or countable things): How many papers will your
project have published? How many books or special issues of journals? How many websites, videos, or animations
will it have created? When will it have developed and circulated protocols/methodologies? When will technologies
be operational? How many students or taxonomists will have been trained? How many specimens will have been
barcoded?
2007
Milestone
The TOPP organismal team plan to submit
approximately 15 papers that have been
identified as key papers for the program
The oceanography team will participate in 46 papers that should be in press by late 2007
Major overhaul of TOPP website including
new partnerships with Yahoo and Google
Oceans Predator Tracking website
A release in march of the Yahoo! “Great
Turtle Race”
●
Comments
In progress and on track,
some achieved
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
Achieved
Release of Indented Sphere Animation
characteristics for TOPP
(http://indentedsphere.com/work.html)
35 papers in review or in preparation
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
In progress and on track
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
Timeframe
Potential hot spot key papers will be finalized
and published
Launch redesigned TOPP website with new
3-D graphics, up to date news stories, and
new education component for K-12 to
illustrate oceanic “watering holes” and the
need for biodiversity conservation
2009
Milestone
Timeframe
●
Publish 100 plus pier-reviewed papers, and
Pacific Ocean Top Predator Atlas
2010
Milestone
Status
Timeframe
Status
Comments
Category 8: Outreach and Education; Recognition
Questions to consider: When might you expect or seek mass media coverage of work of your project? In what type
of media and parts of the world would coverage be most useful? When will you take action to lift your project’s
visibility to the general public and specific target audiences (e.g., politicians)? When will you arrange key
briefings? Exhibitions? When will you aim to incorporate findings from your project into educational endeavors
such as textbooks? When do you expect maximum interaction with educators at various levels? What would be
indicators of educational impact? When do you expect major upgrades of your project website(s)? What recognition
(awards, prizes, endorsements) of your project would be most helpful?
2007
Milestone
Hire new PI and graphic designer for
E&O
●
Comments
In place, January 2007
Redesign TOPP Web site for general lay
public
Collaborate with Yahoo, Leatherback
Trust, Conservation International to
develop and implement Great Turtle Race
Build out TOPP Web site to include new
mapping system
Build out TOPP Web site to include all
23 tagged species
●
Completed June 2007
●
Completed April 2007
●
Completed September 2007
●
Completed December 2007
Work with Monterey Bay Aquarium,
MBARI and Google to develop prototype
content for Google Earth
Work with Ocean Institute, Seymour
Center and Vancouver Aquarium on
content for TOPP public exhibits
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
●
Comments
In progress and on track
June 2008
●
Second Great Turtle Race
Develop TOPP widgets and video for cell June 2008
phones
●
Achieved.
2008
Milestone
Build out large, interactive animated map
of all TOPP Species to show annual
migration patterns and overlay with
oceanographic and research information,
for general public audience
Develop series of animal “races”
Timeframe
Timeframe
June 2008
Status
2009
Milestone
Timeframe
Status
Comments
2010
Milestone
Timeframe
Status
Comments
Category 9: Data Management
Questions to consider: When will you take steps (both on the part of your project and on OBIS’ part) to get data into
OBIS? What might be the number of records in OBIS from your project at the end of each year? What other data
management tools do you expect to develop or adopt, and when? What measures of use, such as traffic or
downloads, of data will be used as indicators of successful data quality and management? When did you assign a
Liaison to OBIS from your project? What can be done to improve the process of interaction with OBIS? When will
you resolve issues of archiving and access, including to data or information that might not go into OBIS?
2007
Milestone
Timeframe
Full implementation of tuna, e-seal, sea lion,
and multi-species LAS
Hopefully a Google Earth Interface will be
initiated
Fully operational database that can serve
tagging and complementary oceanographic
data
Begin operational transfer of TOPP datasets
to OBIS and OBSI-SEAMAP
Begin QA/AC of physical oceanography data
for inclusion in World Ocean Database
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
Timeframe
Create primary habitat utilization maps
(animal atlas) for each tagged species.
Includes a metapopulation analysis to
determine Pacific-wide population usage of
oceanic hotspots; Leads to the identification
of Critical Habitat (CH) maps for migration
corridors and spawning or breeding rookeries
Final QA/QC of physical oceanography data
for inclusion into the World Ocean Database
2010
Milestone
Incorporation of animal derived data in
World Ocean Database
Complete population of TOPP animal
tracking data in OBIS databases
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
In progress and on track
●
Fully operational database that can serve
tagging and complementary oceanographic
data
2009
Milestone
Status
Timeframe
Status
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
Fully functional partner with data delivery to
GOOS, IOOS, NOAA, NASA and Google
In progress and on track
Category 10: Synthesis
Questions to consider: What steps will your project take to integrate its data and findings into a global picture of
marine life in your biogeographic realm? How will your project contribute to the overall CoML synthesis in 2010
and what needs to be done to prepare for that? Have you assigned a schedule for work with FMAP and a Liaison to
FMAP to see the work through? Have you identified the limits to your knowledge (KUU)? Have you given thought
to the Reporting Framework proposal? Have you finalized your Synthesis Plan? What other projects might you
work with for even broader synthesis and understanding? Are you preparing visualization tools that will allow
efficient communication of large amounts of information?
2007
Milestone
Timeframe
To Develop interoperability between TOPPNASA JPL- Duke OBIS SeaMap
Development of tools for comparing
oceanographic features with animal habitats
Initiate multi-species level analyses
Deliver first half of data to Duke OBIS
SeaMap
Develop quantification methods for
statistically analyzing animal tracking
observations
TOPP interface with NASA and Google,
Duke OBIS SeaMap
2008
Milestone
Timeframe
●
Comments
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
In progress and on track
●
To Develop interoperability between TOPPNASA JPL- Duke OBIS SeaMap
Develop forecasting tools
Improve state space modeling approaches
with Bayesian meta-analytic framework
Deliver second half of tracking data sets to
OBIS
Develop Global Ocean Observation Data
Portal that delivers our TOPP data set and
other Animal Biologging Data sets
2009
Milestone
Status
Timeframe
In progress and on track
●
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
In progress and on track
Comments
Continue as above
Generate more flexible analytical tools useful for
marine biogeographic investigations at global
scales
Generate a synthesis product utilizes a common
particle filter for mapping tracks of multiple
species using distinct tag technologies
2010
Milestone
Timeframe
●
In progress and on track
●
In progress and on track
Status
Comments
Complete delivery of all data and synthesis
●
In progress and on track
OBIS Report
TOPP
Tagging of Pacific Pelagics
Name of Project Liaison to OBIS
Alan Swithenback
Hopkins Marine Station
Stanford University
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Ph: 831-655-6225
E-mail: alans@hmsxfer.stanford.edu
1. Has the person responsible for liaison with OBIS from your project been in communication
with OBIS?
Yes
2. Has dialogue begun with OBIS on how the OBIS portal may benefit your project (e.g.
through personal communication to the OBIS Chair or by answering questionnaires)?
Yes, but there are still some programming issues of delivering the current TOPP data to
OBIS
3. Please provide numbers on the following as published through OBIS at this time:
Published in OBIS
a) Datasets
b) Species with location data
c) Unique locations
d) Total species by location records
Number
160
160
Date published (month, year)
0
4. Please provide numbers on following as projected to be published through OBIS and
indicate, to the best of your knowledge, when these will published (Month and Year):
To be published in OBIS
a) Datasets
b) Species with location data
c) Unique locations
d) Total species by location records
Number
4000
23
8,000,000
23
Anticipated date (month, year)
2009-2010
2008-2009
2010
5. Has discovery metadata been provided directly to OBIS for each dataset published?
Not yet, TOPP has focused on getting all the data into a data base on TOPP servers first-
We are 75% complete with the first 3000 tags- we anticipate 100% data base completion by
February 2009. TOPP will then begin serving data to OBIS, NASA and other product users
6. Are there any particular difficulties in publishing data through OBIS?
Yes, the data are in formats unique to TOPP. This has been discussed with OBIS managers and
we believe we’re quickly solving the issues of serving the data to OBIS. We anticipate
completing metadata transfer in 2009, and feel that OBIS has transitioned its leadership and is
now more aware of the major coding issues of receiving TOPP data. Again, we want to
emphasize TOPP is still assimilating data now- and has had to literally overcome the obstacles of
managing 4000 animal deployments with numerous tag platforms. We are serving the data to
TOPP and TOPP partners while simultaneously focusing on solving the problems for data
delivery to OBIS.