Description
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 24,868 records.
2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Butler, E.C., Hempel, C.D., Drymon, J.M., Wells, R.J.D. 2025. Navigating Conservation in the Turks and Caicos Islands: establishing the Turks and Caicos Acoustic Telemetry (TCAT) Network to inform marine spatial management and species conservation. Accessed via the Ocean Tracking Network OBIS IPT on INSERT DATE
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Ocean Tracking Network. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: e575d83e-6fe6-4135-83f0-157c8f5239bf. Ocean Tracking Network publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Ocean Biodiversity Information System.
Keywords
ACOUSTIC TAGS; EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH; Occurrence; Samplingevent; Observation
External data
The resource data is also available in other formats
| Turks and Caicos Acoustic Telemetry (TCAT) Network | https://members.oceantrack.org/project?ccode=TCAT ASCII HTM |
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Contacts
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Data Manager
- Dalhousie University
- +1 (902) 494-4101
- Principal Investigator
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6430-4589
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
Geographic Coverage
PROVIDENCIALES
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [21.551, -72.646], North East [22.086, -71.746] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
Species included below are tagged by this project and have left any embargo. Other individuals or species may later be appended to this dataset.
| Species | Aetobatus narinari (whitespotted eagle ray), Albula vulpes (Atlantic bonefish), Hypanus americanus (southern stingray), Lutjanus analis (mutton snapper), Lutjanus griseus (gray snapper) |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date | 2025-09-01 |
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Project Data
The relationship between people and the ocean in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has shifted dramatically over the past three decades, with rapid growth in tourism, coastal development, and fishing pressure placing increasing strain on fragile marine ecosystems. These pressures, compounded by climate change, threaten biodiversity and the long-term sustainability of TCI's economy, which is heavily reliant on healthy marine environments. While Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were established as early as the late 1970s, many suffer from inadequate capacity for long-term monitoring and management and poor user compliance, limiting their utility. Currently, there is opportunity for meaningful conservation impact, due to an availability of compatible research equipment in the territory and heightened political interest locally in evaluating and possibly amending the MPA network. To target this opportunity, a network of 20-35 acoustic receivers will be installed across strategic areas spanning four existing MPAs, two proposed area extensions, and adjacent unprotected waters. The project will investigate species residency, habitat use, and area connectivity for approximately 90 animals across at least three ecologically and/or economically important target species (using surgically implanted Innovasea V13 and V16 transmitters). Mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis) and whitespotted eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari) are identified as priority species in the initial phase, with southern stingrays (Hypanus americanus) selected as a third focal species. Findings will directly inform marine spatial planning, strengthen local management and monitoring capacity, and contribute to the establishment of the Turks and Caicos Acoustic Telemetry (TCAT) Network as a long-term shared resource for environmental monitoring and species conservation.
| Title | Navigating Conservation in the Turks and Caicos Islands: establishing the Turks and Caicos Acoustic Telemetry (TCAT) Network to inform marine spatial management and species conservation. |
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| Funding | No funding information for this project was provided to OTN for publication. OTN is a research and technology development initiative headquartered at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. OTN is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and is grateful to have once received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). |
| Study Area Description | No study area description for this project was provided to OTN for publication. |
| Design Description | A wide range of aquatic species are tagged with small electronic transmitters, surgically implanted or attached externally, which can operate for up to 20 years. Acoustic receivers arranged in line on the ocean floor as well as attached to buoys, gliders and large animals (e.g. grey seals) pick up the coded acoustic signals from these tags identifying each tagged sea creature that passes within half a kilometer of the receiver. Data collected by these listening stations are subsequently uploaded to one of many compatible data nodes, adding to the reach of an intercompatible network of networks designed and maintained by the Ocean Tracking Network, producing current and reliable records for every part of the globe. Certain classes of electronic tags and listening equipment (receivers) may also be outfitted or co-located with sensors to measure the ocean's temperature, depth, salinity, currents, chemistry, and other properties. |
The personnel involved in the project:
Sampling Methods
Acoustic tags released.
| Study Extent | Program started 2025-09-01 and ran until None |
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| Quality Control | OTN species names are verified using the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). If species names on new data cannot be verified against (a) known valid names in OTN, and/or (b) WoRMs the Data Provider will be notified so they can check they are correct. Names that cannot be placed after checking with WoRMS are, where possible, placed on the basis of other authoritative sources, such as the Fishbase or ITIS; and once completely verified a request will be sent to WoRMS for addition of the verified species name. http://members.oceantrack.org/data/discovery/byspecies |
Method step description:
- This resource was created by the Ocean Tracking Network Data Centre as a summarized representation of animal presence determined by electronic tagging efforts. Darwin Core (DwC) records were extracted from the OTN database and filtered and summarized according to international agreed-upon standards.
Bibliographic Citations
- Butler, E.C., Hempel, C.D., Drymon, J.M., Wells, R.J.D. 2025. Navigating Conservation in the Turks and Caicos Islands: establishing the Turks and Caicos Acoustic Telemetry (TCAT) Network to inform marine spatial management and species conservation In: Ocean Tracking Network Data Centre, Halifax Canada / otndc@dal.ca Retrieved: 2026-05-20 from db.load.oceantrack.org
Additional Metadata
Access Constraints: none Use Constraints: Acknowledge the use of specific records from contributing databases in the form appearing in the 'Citation' field thereof (if any); and acknowledge the use of the OBIS facility. For information purposes, email to info@obis.org the full citation of any publication made (printed or electronic) that cites OBIS or any constituent part. Recognize the limitations of data in OBIS. See https://manual.obis.org/policy.html#disclaimer for more details
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| Alternative Identifiers | 10.14286/v2f1md |
| https://members.oceantrack.org/ipt/resource?r=otnpcsfturksandcaicosacou |