TOPP Census

VIEW THE LIVE DATA

VIEW THE PUBLICATIONS

Maps and Data

Live Data mapThis is the portal to the maps used by TOPP researchers. The map pictured here shows the interweaving tracks of several pelagic (open-ocean) species we tag, including laysan albatross (blue dotted line in the western Pacific Ocean), leatherback turtles, (white tracks), salmon sharks (in red), and elephant seals (in green). You can look at the tracks of all the species, or individuals. Just like the animated maps on the home page, these animals' tracks are updated every day.

The animals' satellite tags send data to the Argos satellite. TOPP researchers download and combine the data with maps showing the temperature of the sea surface and areas of concentration of chlorophyll, a green pigment that's present in phytoplankton -- tiny plants that make up the base of the ocean's food chain. Where there are large concentrations of phytoplankton, there are probably zooplankton, tiny fish, larger fish, and TOPP predators. So, not only are the animals tagged by TOPP showing us where they journey -- something that people just didn't know when we began this project in 2000 -- but they're also showing us that there are deserts and oases that move across the ocean.

Publications


Publication Date
Title
Author(s)
Journal
03/03/2008 Identifying and comparing phases of movement by leatherback turtles using state-space models H. Bailey, G. Shillinger, D. Palacios, S. Bograd, J. Spotila, F. Paladino and B. Block Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
10/17/2007 Small-Scale Fisheries Bycatch Jeopardizes Endangered Pacific Loggerhead Turtles Peckham, Hoyt S., Diaz, David Maldonado, Walli, Andreas, Ruiz, Georgita, Crowder, Larry B., Nichols, Wallace J. PLoS ONE
09/27/2007 Linking foraging behaviour of the northern elephant seal with oceanography and bathymetry at mesoscales Simmons, Samantha E., Crocker, Daniel E., Kudela, Raphael M., Costa, Daniel P. Marine Ecology Progress Series
8/23/2007 Striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) movements and habitat utilization during a summer and autumn in the Southwest Pacific Ocean Tim J. Sippel, Peter s. Davie, John C. Holdsworth and Barbara A. Block Fisheries Oceanography
08/21/2007 Variations in behavior and condition of a Southern Ocean top predator in relation to in situ oceanographic conditions Biuw, M, Boehme, L, Guinet, C., Hindell, M., Costa, D., Charrassin, J.-B., Roquet, F., Bailleul, F., Meredith, M., Thorpe, S., Tremblay, Y., McDonald, B., Park, Y.-H., Rintoul, S.R., Bindoff, N., Goebel, M., Crocker, D., Lovell, P., Nicholson, J., Monks, F., Fedak, M.A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
07/17/2007 Migration and habitat of white sharks
(Carcharodon carcharias) in the eastern Pacific Ocean
Weng, Kevin C., Boustany, Andre M., Pyle, Peter, Anderson, Scot D.,
Brown, Adam, Block, Barbara A.
Marine Biology, Online First
06/21/2007 Movements, behavior, and habitat utilization of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, ascertained through archival tag data Kurt M. Shaefer, Daniel W. Fuller, Barbara A. Block Marine Biology, Online First
05/24/2007 Movements, behavior and habitat preferences of juvenile white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in the eastern Pacific.
Kevin C. Weng, John B. O’Sullivan, Christopher G. Lowe, Chuck E.
Winkler, Heidi Dewar, Barbara A. Block
Inter-Research Marine Ecology Progress Series
03/20/2007 Annual migrations, diving behavior, and thermal biology of Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus, thynnus, on their Gulf of Mexico breeding grounds Steven L. H. Teo, Andre Boustany, Heidi Dewar, Michael J. W. Stokesbury, Kevin C. Weng, Shana Beemer, Andrew C. Seitz, Charles J. Farwell, Eric D. Prince, Barbara A. Block Marine Biology, Volume 151, March 2007
03/20/2007 Influence of Swimming Speed on Metabolic Rates of Juvenile Pacific Bluefin Tuna and Yellowfin Tuna Jason M. Blank, Charles J. Farwell, Jeffery M. Morrissett, Robert J. Schallert, Barbara A. Block Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, March/April 2007
03/15/2007 Fractal landscape method: an alternative approach to measuring area-restricted searching behavior Yann Tremblay, Antony J. Roberts and Daniel P. Costa The Journal of Experimental Biology
01/25/2007 Behavioral context of call production by eastern North Pacific blue whales Oleson, Erin M., Calambokidis, John, Burgess, William C., McDonald, Mark A., LeDuc, Carrie A., Hildebrand, John A. Marine Ecology Progress Series
01/15/2007 Diving Physiology of Marine Vertebrates Costa, Daniel P. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
2007 Swimming speed and foraging strategies of northern elephant seals Hassrick, J. L., D. E. Crocker, R. L. Zeno, S. B. Blackwell, D. P. Costa, and B. J. Le Boeuf. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
2007 Horizontal and vertical movement of bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus orientalis, in relationship to oceanography Kitagawa, T., Boustany, A., Farwell, C., Williams, T. D., Castleton, M., Block, B. A. Fisheries Oceanography
2007 Southern Hemisphere humpback whales wintering off Central America: insights from water temperature into the longest mammalian migration Rasmussen, K., D.M. Palacios, J. Calambokidis, M. Saborio, L. Dalla-Rosa, E. Secchi, G. Steiger, J. Allen, and G. Stone. Biology Letters
2007 A comparison of indirect measures of feeding behaviour based on ARGOS tracking data Robinson, P. W., Y. Tremblay, D. E. Crocker, M. A. Kappes, C. E. Kuhn, S. A. Shaffer, S. E. Simmons, and D. P. Costa. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
2007 Stroke frequency, but not swimming speed, is related to body size in free-ranging seabirds, pinnipeds and cetaceans Sato, K., Y. Watanuki, A. Takahashi, P. Miller, H. Tanaka, R. Kawabe, P. Ponganis, Y. Handrich, T. Akamatsu, Y. Watanabe, Y. Mitani, D. Costa, C. Bost, K. Aoki, M. Amano, P. Trathan, A. Shapiro, and Y. Naito. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Science
2007 Total body oxygen stores and physiological diving capacity of California sea lions as a function of sex and age Weise, M. J. and D. P. Costa Journal of Experimental Biology
2006 Impact of El Niño on the foraging behavior of female northern elephant seals Crocker, D. E., Costa, D. P., Le Boeuf, B. J., Webb, P. M., and Houser, D. S. Marine Ecology Progress Series
2006 Spawning by jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas in the San Pedro Martir Basin, Gulf of California, Mexico Gilly, W. F., C. Elliger, C. Salinas, S. Camarillo-Coop, G. Bazzino and M. Beman. Marine Ecology Progress Series
2006 Identifying and quantifying prey consumption using stomach temperature change: a comparison between a seal and sea lion species. Kuhn, C.E. and Costa, D.P. Journal of Experimental Biology
2006 Spring-time distributions of migratory marine birds in the southern California Current: Oceanic eddy associations and coastal habitat hot spots over 17 years. Yen, P. P. W., Sydeman, W. J., Bograd, S. J. and Hyrenbach, K. D. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
2006 A Database for the Study of Marine Mammal Behavior: Gap Analysis, Data Standardization, and Future Directions Shaffer. S.A. and Costa, D.P. IEEE Journal of Ocean Engineering
11/10/2006 Movement and diving behavior of male California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) during anomalous oceanographic conditions of 2005 Michael J. Weise, Daniel P. Costa, and Raphael M. Kudela Geophysical Research Letters
10/23/2006 Vertical and horizontal migrations by the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas revealed by electronic tagging W. F. Gilly1,*, U. Markaida2, C. H. Baxter1, B. A. Block1, A. Boustany1, L. Zeidberg1, K. Reisenbichler3, B. Robison3, G. Bazzino4, C. Salinas4 Marine Ecology Progress Series
08/16/2006 Migratory shearwaters integrate oceanic resources across the Pacific Ocean in an endless summer Scott A. Shaffer, Yann Tremblay, Henri Weimerskirch, Darren Scott, David R. Thompson, Paul M. Sagar, Henrik Moller, Graeme A. Taylor, David G. Foley, Barbara A. Block, and Daniel P. Costa The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
04/27/2006 Oceanographic characteristics of biological hot spots in the North Pacific: A remote sensing perspective. Palacios, D.M., S.J. Bograd, D.G. Foley, and F.B. Schwing Deep-Sea Research II 53(3-4):250-269, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.03.004.
03/24/2006 Interpolation of animal tracking data in a fluid environment Yann Tremblay, Scott A. Shaffer, Shannon L. Fowler, Carey E. Kuhn, Birgitte I. McDonald, Michael J. Weise, Charle-André Bost, Henri Weimerskirch, Daniel E. Crocker, Michael E. Goebel and Daniel P. Costa The Journal of Experimental Biology 209: 128-140, 2006
2005 A census of Tehuantepec and Papagayo eddies in the northeastern tropical Pacific Palacios, D. M., and S. J. Bograd Geophysical Research Letters
10/10/2005 Bioenergetics and diving activity of internesting leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea at Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, Costa Rica Bryan P. Wallace, Cassondra L. Williams, Frank V. Paladino, Stephen J. Morreale, R. Todd Lindstrom and James R. Spotila The Journal of Experimental Biology 208: 3873-3884, 2005
10/07/2005 Satellite Tagging and Cardiac Physiology Reveal Niche Expansion in Salmon Sharks Kevin C. Weng, Pedro C. Castilho, Jeffery M. Morrissette, Ana M. Landeira-Fernandez, David B. Holts, Robert J. Schallert, Kenneth J. Goldman, Barbara A. Block. Science 310: 104-106, 2005
05/26/2005 Comparison of light- and SST-based geolocation with satellite telemetry in free-ranging albatrosses Scott A. Shaffer, Yann Tremblay, Jill A. Awkerman, R. William Henry, Steven L. H. Teo, David J. Anderson, Donald A. Croll, Barbara A. Block and Daniel P. Costa Marine Biology 147: 833-843, 2005
05/16/2005 Physiological Ecology in the 21st Century: Advancements in Biologging Science Barbara A. Block Integrative and Comparative Biology 45:305–320, 2005
05/03/2005 Ecology of Water Relations and Thermoregulation Houser, Dorian S., Crocker, Daniel E., Costa, Daniel P Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
04/28/2005 Electronic tagging and population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna Barbara A. Block, Steven L. H. Teo, Andreas Walli, Andre Boustany, Michael J.W. Stokesbury, Charles J. Farwell, Kevin C. Weng, Heidi Dewar & Thomas D. Williams Nature 434: 1121-1127, 2005
03/01/2005 Tagging Studies on the jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Gulf of California, Mexico Markaida Rosenthal, J. J. C., and Gilly, W. F. Fishery Bulletin 103:219-226, 2005
2004

Annex 5: Tagging of Pacific Pelagics

Shaffer, Scott; Costa, Dan Tracking Ocean Wanderers: Results from the Global Procellariiform Tracking Workshop, 1–5 September, 2003, BirdLife International
2004 Regional Summaries: North Pacific Shaffer, Scott; Costa, Dan; Suryan, Rob; Hyrenbach, David Tracking Ocean Wanderers: Results from the Global Procellariiform Tracking Workshop, 1–5 September, 2003, BirdLife International
2004 Annex B - A Database for the Study of Marine Mammal Behaviour: A Tool to Define Their Critical Habitat and Behaviour Costa, Dan; Shaffer, Scott Tracking Ocean Wanderers: Results from the Global Procellariiform Tracking Workshop, 1–5 September, 2003, BirdLife International
2004 On the seasonal and interannual migrations of the transition zone chlorophyll front Bograd, S. J., Foley, D. G., Schwing, F. B., Wilson, C., Laurs, R. M., Polovina, J. J., Howell, E. A. and Brainard, R. E. Geophysical Research Letters
12/30/2004 Validation of geolocation estimates based on light level and sea surface temperature from electronic tags Steven L. H. Teo, Andre Boustany, Susanna Blackwell, Andreas Walli, Kevin C. Weng, Barbara A. Block Marine Ecology Progress Series 283: 81–98, 2004
10/15/2003 Field physiology: Physiological insights from animals in nature Daniel P. Costa and Sinervo, B. Annual Reviews of Physiology 66: 209-238, 2003
09/02/2003 Insights into young of the year white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, behavior in the Southern California Bight Heidi Dewar, Michael Domeier and Nicole Nasby-Lucas Environmental Biology of Fishes 70: 133–143, 2004.
05/06/2003 Revealing Pelagic Habitat Use: The Tagging of Pacific Pelagics Program Barbara A. Block, Daniel P. Costa, George W. Boehlert, Randy E. Kochevar Oceanologica Acta 25: 255–266, 2003
01/03/2002 Satellite tagging: Expanded niche for white sharks Andre M. Boustany, Scott F. Davis, Peter Pyle, Scot D. Anderson, Burney J. Le Boeuf, Barbara A. Block Nature, Vol. 415: 35 - 36, 2002
11/01/2001 Autonomous Pinniped Environmental Samples: Using Instrumented Animals as Oceanographic Data Collectors. Boehlert, G.W., D.P. Costa, D.E. Crocker, P. Green, T. O’Brien, S. Levitus and B.J. LeBoeuf. Journal of Atmosphere and Ocean Technology 18: 1882-1893, 2001
08/17/2001 Migratory movements, depth preferences and thermal biology of Atlantic bluefin tuna Block, B.A., Dewar, H., Blackwell, S.B., Williams, T., Prince, E. Boustany, A.M., Farwell, C., D. J. Fudge, D. J., Seitz, A Science 293: 1310-1314, 2001
10/09/2000 Respiration and Heart rate at the surface between dives in northern elephant seals LeBoeuf, B.J., Crocker, D.E., Grayson, J., Gedamke, J., Webb, J.M., Blackwell, S.B. and Costa, D.P. Journal Experimental Biology 203: 3265-3274, 2000
12/01/1999 The role of physiology in the behavior of diving mammals: Insights from animals in nature Costa, D. P. European Undersea Baromedical Society, Proceedings 99: 233-239, 1999
08/01/1998 A new satellite technology for tracking the movements of Atlantic bluefin tuna Block, B.A., H. Dewar, C. Farwell, and E.D. Prince Proceedings National Academy Sciences USA, 95: 9384-9389, 1998