Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success
Abstract Fronts—i.e., the boundaries between water masses—are ubiquitous in the world oceans and have been shown to significantly influence pelagic ecosystems with enhanced local productivity and increased abundances of forage fish and top predators. Here we use data from archival tags to document h...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10049 |
| _version_ | 1828944169030123520 |
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| author | Stephanie Snyder Peter J. S. Franks Lynne D. Talley Yi Xu Suzanne Kohin |
| author_facet | Stephanie Snyder Peter J. S. Franks Lynne D. Talley Yi Xu Suzanne Kohin |
| author_sort | Stephanie Snyder |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Fronts—i.e., the boundaries between water masses—are ubiquitous in the world oceans and have been shown to significantly influence pelagic ecosystems with enhanced local productivity and increased abundances of forage fish and top predators. Here we use data from archival tags to document how four juvenile albacore tunas foraged at and exploited a thermal front. Of the 3098 observed trips, the albacore mainly swam across the front between the warm side above the thermocline and the cold side below the thermocline with an average of 78 ± 20.4 cross‐frontal trips per fish per day. The warm frontal surface waters provided a thermal resource, allowing the tuna to maintain higher body temperatures and thus forage more efficiently in the food‐rich waters of the cold side of the front. Foraging success of the tunas decreased as the cross‐front thermal gradient weakened. This first look into small‐scale use of fronts by a top predator demonstrates that ephemeral, submesoscale oceanic features can play a significant role in pelagic ecology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T04:28:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-229739e33bae424782250f106c7b70bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2378-2242 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T04:28:38Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-229739e33bae424782250f106c7b70bc2022-12-21T23:17:08ZengWileyLimnology and Oceanography Letters2378-22422017-10-012518719410.1002/lol2.10049Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging successStephanie Snyder0Peter J. S. Franks1Lynne D. Talley2Yi Xu3Suzanne Kohin4Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San DiegoSan Diego CaliforniaScripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San DiegoSan Diego CaliforniaScripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San DiegoSan Diego CaliforniaSouthwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationLa Jolla CaliforniaSouthwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationLa Jolla CaliforniaAbstract Fronts—i.e., the boundaries between water masses—are ubiquitous in the world oceans and have been shown to significantly influence pelagic ecosystems with enhanced local productivity and increased abundances of forage fish and top predators. Here we use data from archival tags to document how four juvenile albacore tunas foraged at and exploited a thermal front. Of the 3098 observed trips, the albacore mainly swam across the front between the warm side above the thermocline and the cold side below the thermocline with an average of 78 ± 20.4 cross‐frontal trips per fish per day. The warm frontal surface waters provided a thermal resource, allowing the tuna to maintain higher body temperatures and thus forage more efficiently in the food‐rich waters of the cold side of the front. Foraging success of the tunas decreased as the cross‐front thermal gradient weakened. This first look into small‐scale use of fronts by a top predator demonstrates that ephemeral, submesoscale oceanic features can play a significant role in pelagic ecology.https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10049 |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie Snyder Peter J. S. Franks Lynne D. Talley Yi Xu Suzanne Kohin Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
| title | Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success |
| title_full | Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success |
| title_fullStr | Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success |
| title_short | Crossing the line: Tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success |
| title_sort | crossing the line tunas actively exploit submesoscale fronts to enhance foraging success |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10049 |
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