Authors

Heather Welch

Description

Top Predator Watch is a dynamic ocean management tool that produces daily predictions of the distributions of 14 top predator species: blue (Prionace glauca), mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), white (Carcharodon carcharias), and salmon (Lamna ditropis) sharks; albacore (Thunnus alalunga), yellowfin (T. albacares), and bluefin (T. thynnus) tunas; blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), sooty shearwaters (Ardenna grisea), California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), black-footed (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan (P. immutabilis) albatross; elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). From these predictions we extract core habitat - the locations where each species is most likely to be found based on current environmental conditions. The repository linked is to operationalize the tool.

Citation

Welch, H., Savoca, M. S., Brodie, S., Jacox, M. G., Muhling, B. A., Clay, T. A., Cimino, M. A., Benson, S. R., Block, B. A., Conners, M. G., Costa, D. P., Jordan, F. D., Leising, A. W., Mikles, C. S., Palacios, D. M., Shaffer, S. A., Thorne, L. H., Watson, J. T., Holser, R. R., … Hazen, E. L. (2023). Impacts of marine heatwaves on top predator distributions are variable but predictable. Nature Communications, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40849-y

Keywords

• Bycatch
• Fisheries
• Marine Mammals
• North Pacific
• Species Distribution Model

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