Habitat geography around Hawaii's oceanic islands influences tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) spatial behaviour and shark bite risk at ocean recreation sites.

ABSTRACT: We compared tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) spatial behaviour among 4 Hawaiian Islands to evaluate whether local patterns of movement could explain higher numbers of shark bites seen around Maui than other islands. Our sample consisted of 96 electronically-tagged (satellite and acoustic transmitters) tiger sharks, individually tracked for up to 6 years. Most individuals showed fidelity to a specific 'home' island, but also swam between islands and sometimes ranged far (up to 1,400 km) offshore. Movements were primarily oriented to insular shelf habitat (0-200 m depth) in coastal waters, and individual sharks utilized core-structured home ranges within this habitat. Core utilization areas of large tiger sharks were closer to high-use ocean recreation sites around Maui, than around Oahu. Tig

SUBMITTER: Meyer CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5862960 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature