Deep-diving behaviour of a whale shark Rhincodon typus during long-distance movement in the western Indian Ocean |
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| Authors: | J. M. Brunnschweiler,&dagger ,H. Baensch,&Dagger ,S. J. Pierce,§ D. W. Sims,&# ¶ |
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| Affiliation: | Institute of Zoology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH–8057 Zurich, Switzerland; , The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, U.K.; , Manta Ray &Whale Shark Research Centre, Tofo Beach, Mozambique; , Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, U.K.; and Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, U.K. |
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| Abstract: | A whale shark Rhincodon typus satellite tagged off the coast of Mozambique showed a highly directional movement across the Mozambique Channel and around the southern tip of Madagascar, a minimum distance of 1200 km in 87 days. Dives to depths well into the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones (1286 m maximum depth) were recorded in a bathymetrically non-constraining habitat. The water temperature range recorded during the fish's movement was 3·4–29·9° C. |
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| Keywords: | deep diving dive behaviour foraging migration ocean stratification satellite tagging |
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