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Concept <p>Pelagic Seascape classifications delineate spatially explicit water masses based on distinctive biogeochemical features. These are expected to act as dynamic habitats for marine megafauna that influence their movement.</p> Objective <p>Here, we test if marine megafauna respond to a free, globally consistent, publicly available pelagic Seascape data-product in ways that are consistent with habitat selection of land animals using taxa with contrasting ecologies.</p> Methods <p>We compiled a large satellite-tracking dataset (n = 82 individuals) comprising blue sharks (<i>Prionace glauca</i>, n = 28), leatherback turtles (<i>Dermochelys coriacea</i>, n = 26), and fin whales (<i>Balaenoptera physalus</i>, n = 28), tagged between 2014 and 2025. We then compared their movements across the Northwest Atlantic Ocean to Seascapes to develop dynamic resource selection functions (RSFs).</p> Results <p>Our results confirm that pelagic Seascapes act as ecologically meaningful categorical proxies of dynamic habitats and provide evidence that broad-scale movement decisions of marine fauna are structured by interacting and co-occurring biophysical features. We also reveal how pelagic Seascapes could be used in an applied context, serving as near-real time indicators of areas where marine megafauna are more likely to occur.</p> Conclusions <p>This work demonstrates that three ecologically distinct species of marine megafauna select pelagic seascapes, analogous to habitat selection observed in terrestrial systems. We highlight the value of Seascapes as a simple, intuitive, and transferable framework for movement ecology, and anticipate that their application will foster new opportunities to apply concepts from landscape ecology into the pelagic marine realm.</p>

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Marine megafauna select pelagic habitats in a dynamic ocean

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月31日

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  • Ben D’Antonio,
  • Maria T. Kavanaugh,
  • Garrett M. Street,
  • Russel D. Andrews,
  • Derek M. Aoki,
  • Austin J. Gallagher,
  • Veronique Lesage,
  • Frank Muller Karger,
  • Enrique Montes,
  • Daniel B. Otis,
  • Justin R. Perrault,
  • Christian Ramp,
  • George L. Shillinger,
  • Richard Sears,
  • Joaquin Trinanes,
  • Neil Hammerschlag

摘要

Concept

Pelagic Seascape classifications delineate spatially explicit water masses based on distinctive biogeochemical features. These are expected to act as dynamic habitats for marine megafauna that influence their movement.

Objective

Here, we test if marine megafauna respond to a free, globally consistent, publicly available pelagic Seascape data-product in ways that are consistent with habitat selection of land animals using taxa with contrasting ecologies.

Methods

We compiled a large satellite-tracking dataset (n = 82 individuals) comprising blue sharks (Prionace glauca, n = 28), leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea, n = 26), and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus, n = 28), tagged between 2014 and 2025. We then compared their movements across the Northwest Atlantic Ocean to Seascapes to develop dynamic resource selection functions (RSFs).

Results

Our results confirm that pelagic Seascapes act as ecologically meaningful categorical proxies of dynamic habitats and provide evidence that broad-scale movement decisions of marine fauna are structured by interacting and co-occurring biophysical features. We also reveal how pelagic Seascapes could be used in an applied context, serving as near-real time indicators of areas where marine megafauna are more likely to occur.

Conclusions

This work demonstrates that three ecologically distinct species of marine megafauna select pelagic seascapes, analogous to habitat selection observed in terrestrial systems. We highlight the value of Seascapes as a simple, intuitive, and transferable framework for movement ecology, and anticipate that their application will foster new opportunities to apply concepts from landscape ecology into the pelagic marine realm.