Project Description-
The Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) research program is an international scientific collaboration applying new technologies to enhance our understanding of the environmental basis for movements and behaviors of highly migratory pelagic animals in the North Pacific. Because these animals spend most of their lives in the open ocean, their movements can only be tracked with microprocessor-based archival tags that record their location and a number of other parameters, such as water pressure, ambient light, internal body temperature, external water temperature, and in some cases, ocean salinity. Some of these tags must be retrieved to be downloaded, while others transmit the recorded data to ARGOS satellites from the ocean’s surface. TOPP scientists use this information to follow the migrations of tunas, sharks, pinnipeds (California sea lions and elephant seals), mola mola (ocean sunfish), cetaceans, albatross, squid, and sea turtles as they crisscross the Pacific basin. The results answer basic questions about the animals’ biology, including where they feed and breed, and what migration corridors they use.
• In addition to providing information about the animals themselves, the data gathered by the project provides oceanographers with a new way to sample conditions at different depths in the water column as they study the coupling between the ocean, atmosphere, and climate. Understanding of this coupling is a critical component of models that predict changes in the global climate.
• The TOPP program is increasing our understanding about how large open-ocean animals utilize the North Pacific ecosystem, as well as about the North Pacific itself. We are now beginning to see which areas are most critical for feeding, reproduction, and migration, and to better understand the environmental mechanisms that shape these behaviors. This information will add to our current knowledge about these magnificent creatures and be invaluable in establishing ecosystem-based management strategies to ensure the long-term health of populations.
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Funded by the
U.S. Office of Naval Research
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Blue Shark, Mako Shark, Salmon Shark, California Sea Lion, Elephant Seal,
Blue Whale, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Laysan Albatross
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TOPP Partners-
Sea Mammal Research Unit,
University of St. Andrews
Tuna Research and Conservation Center,
Hopkins Marine Station
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Oregon State University
Cascadia Research Collective
Moss Landing Marine Lab
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA
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Principal Investigators-
Barbara A. Block, Stanford University
Daniel Costa, University of
California, Santa Cruz
Steve Bograd, National Oceanic
& Atmospheric Administration
Randy Kochevar, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Online Information-
TOPP Census |
