Characterization of large basking shark Cetorhinus maximus aggregations in the western North Atlantic Ocean

Cetorhinus maximus aggregations recorded during extensive aerial survey efforts off the north‐eastern United States between 1980 and 2013 included aggregations centring on sightings with group sizes of at least 30 individuals. These aggregations occurred in summer and autumn months and included aggr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fish biology 2018-05, Vol.92 (5), p.1371-1384
Main Authors: Crowe, L. M., O'Brien, O., Curtis, T. H., Leiter, S. M., Kenney, R. D., Duley, P., Kraus, S. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerial surveying
Agglomeration
Aggregation
Animal Distribution
Animals
Atlantic Ocean
basking shark
behaviour
Cetorhinus maximus
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll a
Copepoda
courtship
Ecological aggregations
Ecosystem
elasmobranch
foraging
Marine fishes
Photogrammetry
Prey
Remote Sensing Technology
Sea surface
Sea surface temperature
Seasons
Sharks
shoaling
Temperature
Temperature (air-sea)
Zooplankton
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Summary:Cetorhinus maximus aggregations recorded during extensive aerial survey efforts off the north‐eastern United States between 1980 and 2013 included aggregations centring on sightings with group sizes of at least 30 individuals. These aggregations occurred in summer and autumn months and included aggregation sizes of up to 1398 individuals, the largest aggregation ever reported for this species. The aggregations were associated with sea surface temperatures of 13–24° C and chlorophyll‐a concentrations of 0·4–2·6 mg m−3 and during one aggregation, a high abundance of zooplankton prey was present. Photogrammetric tools allowed for the estimation of total body lengths ranging between 4 and 8 m. Characterization of these events provides new insight into the potential biological function of large aggregations in this species.
ISSN:0022-1112
1095-8649
DOI:10.1111/jfb.13592