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Demography and movement patterns of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) aggregating near the head of a submarine canyon along the open coast of southern California, USA

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An Erratum to this article was published on 16 March 2013

Abstract

The demography, spatial distribution, and movement patterns of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) aggregating near the head of a submarine canyon in La Jolla, California, USA, were investigated to resolve the causal explanations for this and similar shark aggregations. All sharks sampled from the aggregation site (n = 140) were sexually mature and 97.1 % were female. Aerial photographs taken during tethered balloon surveys revealed high densities of milling sharks of up to 5470 sharks ha−1. Eight sharks were each tagged with a continuous acoustic transmitter and manually tracked without interruption for up to 48 h. Sharks exhibited strong site-fidelity and were generally confined to a divergence (shadow) zone of low wave energy, which results from wave refraction over the steep bathymetric contours of the submarine canyon. Within this divergence zone, the movements of sharks were strongly localized over the seismically active Rose Canyon Fault. Tracked sharks spent most of their time in shallow water (≤2 m for 71.0 % and ≤10 m for 95.9 % of time), with some dispersing to deeper (max: 53.9 m) and cooler (min: 12.7 °C) water after sunset, subsequently returning by sunrise. These findings suggest multiple functions of this aggregation and that the mechanism controlling its formation, maintenance, and dissolution is complex and rooted in the sharks’ variable response to numerous confounding environmental factors.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the many people that volunteered their time to assist with this project, particularly E. Kisfaludy, M. Royer, A. Caillat, M. Taylor, M.C. Bernal, L. McCormick, A. Martin, A. Barker, J. Arce, J. Beckman, B. Frossard, J. Renfree, C. Jew, L. Bellquist, N. Ben-Aderet, and E. Parnell. This work was conducted under University of California – San Diego Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol No. S00080. Funding was provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Graduate Department, Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, and the Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club Foundation. A. Nosal was supported by Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT, No. 0333444) awards from the National Science Foundation. We would like to dedicate this paper to Jeffrey B. Graham, who is a co-author on this manuscript but passed away before its completion. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California – San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    A. P. Nosal

  2. Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California – San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    D. C. Cartamil, N. C. Wegner & J. B. Graham

  3. St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, United States Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    J. W. Long

  4. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Rostock, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    M. Lührmann

  5. Fisheries Resource Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    N. C. Wegner

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  1. A. P. Nosal
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Correspondence to A. P. Nosal.

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Nosal, A.P., Cartamil, D.C., Long, J.W. et al. Demography and movement patterns of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) aggregating near the head of a submarine canyon along the open coast of southern California, USA. Environ Biol Fish 96, 865–878 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-012-0083-5

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