New paper on basking shark distribution in the Bay of Fundy

New paper on basking shark distribution in the Bay of Fundy

Today Zach Siders published a paper in PLOS ONE on his work studying the distribution and dive behavior of basking sharks in the Bay of Fundy, based on records from opportunistic surveys and tour operators. This work provides the first details on the distribution of these elusive animals in the waters of eastern Canada and how it changes seasonally.

Great work by Zach and my other colleagues at UNCW and the GMWSRS!

Below is an image of basking shark habitat predicted by the model based onchlorophyll-a, sea surface temperature, depth, aspect, slope, and distance to the 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 m contours for (A) July, (B) August, (C) September, and (D) October. Warmer colors indicate higher suitability.

Maxent distribution models used environmental predictors were chlorophyll-a, sea surface temperature, depth, aspect, slope, and distance to the 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 m contours for (A) July, (B) August, (C) September, and (D) October. Warmer colors indicate higher suitability. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082074.g002

 

You can get the paper here.