Using Specialized Shark-borne Sensors for Oceanographic Measurements Throughout the Water Column

The overarching goal of this project is to operationalize the collection of science quality conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) profiles through the deployment of a new biologging tag on sharks in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB). The Mid-Atlantic Bight is one of the most thermally stratified coastal oceans in the world, so accurate, spatially distributed CTD profiles in this region are critical for storm forecasting. The accuracy of these forecasts directly affects regional storm preparedness and mitigation operations, maritime operations, commercial fisheries, and soon-to-be installed renewable wind energy assets. Because of their importance, obtaining CTD profiles and measurements justify their high cost through the deployment of robotic systems (e.g. gliders). Biologging tags, or “miniaturized animal-attached tags for logging and/or relaying data about an animal’s movements, behavior, physiology, and/or environment’ are an increasingly powerful tool for learning about the marine environment and have demonstrated their utility in generating real time ocean observations. The objective is to deploy a new CTD tag for the first time on sharks, tagging species (Blue and Shortfin Mako Sharks) that occupy the thermal range of the MAB and exhibit diving behavior that is suited for creating consistent vertical profiles of ocean heat and salinity. By demonstrating the capacity of sharks to carry these tags, it will greatly increase the spatial and vertical extent of the world’s oceans that can be observed using biologging tags. Lastly, the researchers will collaborate with ATN (Animal Tracking Network) and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS) to quality control and deliver these data in real time for global and regional data assimilation. In addition, they will be double tagging sharks with pop-off archival transmitting (PAT) tags on sharks, which record temperature, depth, and light level for several months, allowing researchers to combine the oceanographic data collected from the CTD tags with habitat use data from the sharks. This will allow the team to better understand the spatial ecology of the species while also obtaining valuable oceanographic data.