iScience (Apr 2021)

Similar circling movements observed across marine megafauna taxa

  • Tomoko Narazaki,
  • Itsumi Nakamura,
  • Kagari Aoki,
  • Takashi Iwata,
  • Kozue Shiomi,
  • Paolo Luschi,
  • Hiroyuki Suganuma,
  • Carl G. Meyer,
  • Rui Matsumoto,
  • Charles A. Bost,
  • Yves Handrich,
  • Masao Amano,
  • Ryosuke Okamoto,
  • Kyoichi Mori,
  • Stéphane Ciccione,
  • Jérôme Bourjea,
  • Katsufumi Sato

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 4
p. 102221

Abstract

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Summary: Advances in biologging technology have enabled 3D dead-reckoning reconstruction of marine animal movements at spatiotemporal scales of meters and seconds. Examining high-resolution 3D movements of sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier, N = 4; Rhincodon typus, N = 1), sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, N = 3), penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus, N = 6), and marine mammals (Arctocephalus gazella, N = 4; Ziphius cavirostris, N = 1), we report the discovery of circling events where animals consecutively circled more than twice at relatively constant angular speeds. Similar circling behaviors were observed across a wide variety of marine megafauna, suggesting these behaviors might serve several similar purposes across taxa including foraging, social interactions, and navigation.

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