Oceanic migration

Two areas that extend in the North Pacific Ocean to the west of the USA and between Alaska and Hawaii are teeming with life and are "hot spots" through which migration corridors pass for large marine predators such as tuna, sharks, seabirds, whales and others 

One of the most impressive natural spectacles takes place every year in the Serengeti and Masai Mara plains in East Africa, hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, zebras and deer migrate in an elliptical route in huge caravans that cross rivers and provide food for the predators around them.

Now it turns out that there is a marine equivalent. Two areas in the Pacific Ocean constitute vast migration areas that researchers compare to the Serengeti Plains in East Africa.

 The two extensive areas in the North Pacific Ocean west of the USA and between Alaska and Hawaii are teeming with life and are "hot spots" through which migration corridors pass for large marine predators such as tuna, sharks, seabirds, whales and others.

Data deciphered by comparing seasonal migration routes of 23 species constitute an important and interesting discovery. Between 2000 and 2009, marine predator species were tagged within the framework of the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program as part of an international survey for daily life.

The predators were marked with tags that transmit their movements and the water conditions: salinity, temperature and depth, a total of more than 4000 animals were tagged from which movement data of 1791 marine predators was obtained for a total of about a quarter of a million days.

This is the first time that a combination of the data obtained over the years gives a comprehensive and complete picture of the beam in vast ocean areas, the researchers compare their work to the plains of Africa and say that the answers they received from the combination of the data are equivalent to the answer to a question such as: "What do lions, zebras, cheetahs do and deer in Africa".

The data focuses the survey on two "hot spots", two areas in the North Pacific Ocean where the migration routes of the predators converge: one "hot spot" is along the "California Current" which flows south and the other is the area between Alaska and Hawaii where they meet Cold water from the North Pole in warm water from the temperate zones. In the two "hot spots" the currents bring up nutrients from the bottom of the sea, the food attracts many fish and these attract the predators, a combination that causes the grouping of many species in large quantities. An abundance of food along the routes creates the migration corridors for the marine predators and enables the grouping of many individuals of different species.

And again the researchers compare the amounts of individuals and species to the African savannahs. The combination of the data that was limited from the tags makes it possible to get a picture of the behavior of (the tagged), for example, it turned out that shark species "divide" the ocean between them so that each species has separate hunting areas, a division that results from different preferences for water temperature, a division that prevents "fin friction" .

 The survey also showed how long-distance nomads such as tuna, sharks and sea elephants faithfully return from their migration route to the same area every season, or as the researchers say, "return home" (like Lassie?) T.S. data. T show how water temperature and ocean fertility as a result of upwelling of nutrients from the bottom drive seasonal migration of many species. When data obtained from satellites is added to the T.S.T. data, it is possible to speculate when and where different species will be found.

Additional surveys whose data will be received from other areas will complete the picture and identify additional "hot spots", surveys that will enable the protection and preservation of life in the oceans. In the days when fish populations are dwindling, it is very important to know and know their location in order to regulate the fishing and to preserve the fish.