Exploring the seasonal dynamics of coastal movements in white sharks across the North-East Pacific

Sampling event Observation
Latest version published by Ocean Tracking Network on Nov 10, 2025 Ocean Tracking Network

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 2,362 records in English (131 KB) - Update frequency: as needed
Metadata as an EML file download in English (23 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (16 KB)

Description

This is the OBIS extraction of the Ocean Tracking Network and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) TOPPWS, consisting of the release tagging metadata, i.e. the location and date when the tagged animal was released, and summarized detection events of tagged individuals. If readers are interested in the source dataset they may also inquire with the project PIs as listed here or on the OTN web site (https://members.oceantrack.org/project?ccode=NEP.TOPPWS).

Abstract:Gaining insights into seasonal aggregations of marine megafauna and how patterns vary among demographic groups is pivotal for modeling populations and ecosystem dynamics and evaluating anthropogenic risk exposure. In California, adult and sub-adult white sharks recurrently aggregate on the central coast in fall and winter months, while juveniles are thought to remain present in southern aggregations year-round. However, understanding of movements outside of known aggregation sites, transitions in patterns between ontogenetic groups, and drivers of presence at coastal sites is limited. Using a long-term acoustic tagging program (established in 2006) in Central California, our project focuses on unraveling the coastal movement patterns of white sharks spanning juvenile to adult size ranges. Our expanded receiver array covers both historical aggregation sites and additional locations along the Central California coast, providing a finer-scale investigation into shark movements.

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 2,362 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.

Event (core)
2362
Occurrence 
2061
ExtendedMeasurementOrFact 
845

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:

Andrzejaczek, S., DiGiacomo, A., Castleton, M., Block, B. 2006. Exploring the seasonal dynamics of coastal movements in white sharks across the North-East Pacific. 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: fd46d7b5-067e-40da-82ea-7c7b96178192.  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

External data

The resource data is also available in other formats

Contacts

Ocean Tracking Network Data Centre
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
  • Data Manager
Ocean Tracking Network
  • Dalhousie University
B3H 4J1 Halifax
Nova Scotia
CA
  • +1 (902) 494-4101
Jonathan Pye
  • Metadata Provider
  • Data Manager
Ocean Tracking Network
CA
Barbara Block
  • Principal Investigator
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
CA
Samantha Andrzejaczek
  • Content Provider
Stanford University
US
Michael Castleton
  • Content Provider
Stanford University
US
Alexandra DiGiacomo
Joe Smith
  • Content Provider
Northwest Fisheries Science Center NOAA
US
David Huff
  • Content Provider
Northwest Fisheries Science Center NOAA
US
David Welch
  • Content Provider
Kintama Research Services
CA
G Curtis Roegner
  • Content Provider
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
US
Daniel Erickson
  • Content Provider
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
US
Michael Donnellan
  • Content Provider
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
US
Steve Lindley
  • Content Provider
Southwest Fisheries Science Center NOAA
US
Scott Hinch
  • Content Provider
University of British Columbia
CA
Arnold Ammann
  • Content Provider
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
US
Fred Whoriskey
  • Content Provider
Dalhousie University
CA

Geographic Coverage

CALIFORNIA

Bounding Coordinates South West [32.395, -124.562], North East [41.374, -121.486]

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 Carcharodon carcharias (white shark)

Temporal Coverage

Start Date 2006-09-01

Project Data

Gaining insights into seasonal aggregations of marine megafauna and how patterns vary among demographic groups is pivotal for modeling populations and ecosystem dynamics and evaluating anthropogenic risk exposure. In California, adult and sub-adult white sharks recurrently aggregate on the central coast in fall and winter months, while juveniles are thought to remain present in southern aggregations year-round. However, understanding of movements outside of known aggregation sites, transitions in patterns between ontogenetic groups, and drivers of presence at coastal sites is limited. Using a long-term acoustic tagging program (established in 2006) in Central California, our project focuses on unraveling the coastal movement patterns of white sharks spanning juvenile to adult size ranges. Our expanded receiver array covers both historical aggregation sites and additional locations along the Central California coast, providing a finer-scale investigation into shark movements.

Title Exploring the seasonal dynamics of coastal movements in white sharks across the North-East Pacific
Funding 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). OTN is also grateful for the continued support from Research Nova Scotia, and OTN's host institution, Dalhousie University.
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:

Barbara Block

Sampling Methods

Acoustic tags released.

Study Extent Program started 2006-09-01 and ran until None
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:

  1. 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

  1. Andrzejaczek, S., DiGiacomo, A., Castleton, M., Block, B. 2006. Exploring the seasonal dynamics of coastal movements in white sharks across the North-East Pacific In: Ocean Tracking Network Data Centre, Halifax Canada / otndc@dal.ca Retrieved: 2012-10-25 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

Purpose

These data are for display on the OBIS portal and associated mapping programs and for download to personal computers for ad-hoc end-user analysis.

Alternative Identifiers 10.14286/rut7mw
fd46d7b5-067e-40da-82ea-7c7b96178192
https://members.oceantrack.org/ipt/resource?r=otnstanfordutoppws