In the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, two of the seven species of sea turtles are known to nest and forage along the coast, the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). As a result of some life history characteristics, sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the recent opening of its borders to recreational tourists, the country aims to develop several large-scale projects along the Red Sea coast, locally known as “giga-projects”. Thus, imminent pressures from coastal development highlight the urgency needed for multi-country cooperation in protecting sea turtles in the region. This dissertation aims to establish some baseline data and protocols for future work to meet the data needs of the relevant conservation authorities in Saudi Arabia. In particular, this thesis contributes new and important information to some of the identified knowledge gaps for the Red Sea region, including sea turtle habitat use, threat assessment (plastic and heavy metal pollution), and evaluating hatching success. I used satellite telemetry to understand foraging home ranges of hawksbill and green turtles, post-nesting migrations, and inter-nesting habitat use of green turtles. Additionally, I used photo identification to understand the abundance and behavior of turtles at a Rabigh fringing reef, in the central Red Sea. I assessed two anthropogenic contaminants as a threat to Red Sea turtles: heavy metal contamination and plastic ingestion. Heavy metal concentrations in the sand were evaluated at the largest green turtle rookery in Saudi Arabia, Ras Baridi, which is located next to a cement factory. I also assessed the concentration of heavy metals in the tissues of dead hatchlings found at Ras Baridi. Additionally, I studied plastic ingestion in ten deceased turtles found along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. In my last data chapter, I assessed the hatching success of green turtle nests, and investigated clutch relocation as a possible method of increasing success. The final chapter summarizes the results from this research in the context of the 2004 PERSGA Marine Turtle Conservation Plan, and provides possible conservation strategy recommendations to protect Red Sea turtles

While the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has faced a sharp up-rise in popularity in ground-based industries, such as for autonomous navigation in the automotive industry and predictive maintenance in manufacturing processes, it is yet only rarely used in space industry. Hence, this thesis aims to investigate the possibilities of using AI for processing on-board Earth-orbiting satellites while in orbit. In a first step, the interests and trends of deploying AI on-board satellites are studied, followed by challenges that are hindering the progression of its development. In a second step, five potential on-board applications are selected for investigation of their overall relevance to space industry, as well as their benefits compared to traditional approaches. Out of these, the possibility of using AI for predicting the degradation of batteries is selected for further study, as it shows the highest potential. Today’s approaches for monitoring battery degradation on satellites are highly insufficient and there is a great demand for a new approach. Several AI-based methods have been proposed in literature, but only rarely for processing directly on-board. Thus, I investigate the feasibility of adopting such an algorithm for on-board use, including an evaluation of the suitability of different algorithms, as well as the choice of input parameters and training data. I find that the use of AI could highly improve various aspects of satellite performance both on a platform and a payload level, by making them more efficient, but also more capable, such as for in-orbit battery prediction on-board. However, its implementation is still heavily hampered by the lack of validation and verification standards for AI in space, along with limitations imposed by the space environment, restricting the satellite design. In the investigation of using AI for on-board battery prediction, I find that this would be a suitable application for constellation satellites in LEO, in particular for prolonging their operations beyond their planned lifetime while still being able to ensure safe decommissioning. I estimate that this would lead to a yearly minimal average saved satellite replacement cost of $ 22 million in a constellation with 500 satellites, assuming an extension of the satellite lifetime from 7 to 7.5 years when using this application. Based on references in literature, I find that using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) algorithm could make the most intricate predictions, whereas a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) algorithm would be less processing-heavy at the cost of a loss in accuracy. Training needs to be done on ground, either on telemetry data from past, similar missions or on synthetic data from simulations. Its implementation needs to be investigated in future research, including the selection of a suitable framework, but also benchmarking for evaluating the necessary processing power and memory space.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 28-31, 1996 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) satellite will travel to the asteroid 433 Eros, arriving there early in 1999, and orbit the asteroid for 1 year taking measurements that will map the surface features and determine its elemental composition. NEAR is the first satellite to use the rate-1/6 convolutional encoding on its telemetry downlink. Due to the scarcity and complexity of full decoders, APL designed and built a less capable but inexpensive version of the decoder for use in the integration, test, and prelaunch checkout of the rate-1/6 encoder. This paper describes the rationale for the design, how it works, and the features that are included.

The release of 260 kg of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by a military radar station into Saglek Bay (Labrador) in the eastern Canadian Arctic contaminated adjacent marine sediments, and some fish, seabirds, and ringed seals. However, attributing the PCBs found in high trophic level and highly mobile marine mammals to any point source is, in most cases, impossible. This thesis demonstrated the extent to which a local PCB source at Saglek Bay led to the contamination and health effects in ringed seals. The dominance of PCBs at this contaminated marine site afforded a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of this single class of industrial chemical in a manner that has not been previously possible in marine mammals. We used a variety of tools to characterize the contribution of local PCB contamination in the Labrador ringed seal food web. These tools included: 1) univariate and multivariate statistical exploration of contaminant patterns; 2) stable isotope ratios and fatty acid signatures to describe feeding ecology; and 3) satellite telemetry to track the movements of seals on the coast. Divergent PCB congener profiles and contaminant ratios enabled an assignment of seals into either ‘local’ or ‘long-range’ categories, with up to 60% of ringed seals sampled exhibiting patterns consistent with the local source. PCB concentrations in locally-contaminated adult males were 2-fold higher than in those exposed only to long-range PCB sources. Seals with smaller home ranges had an increased likelihood of feeding on prey contaminated by the local PCB source. Similar fatty acid profiles between those seals with ‘local’ PCB profiles and those with ‘long-range’ or background profiles indicate little support for the possibility that differential feeding ecologies explained the divergent PCB profiles. Ringed seals fed predominantly on zooplankton (Mysis oculata and Themisto libellula), dusky snailfish (Liparis gibbus) and arctic cod (Boreogadus saida). Heavier PCB profiles in the Saglek food web, compared to the same species exposed to only background contaminants, provided additional insight into the mechanisms of localized PCB contamination of some Labrador ringed seals. In addition to ascertaining the importance of a point source to contamination in ringed seals, we assessed the effects of PCBs on their health through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay. Levels of mRNA transcripts for five gene targets, including aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), interleukin-1 beta (Il1b), estrogen receptor alpha (Esr1), insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (Igf1) and glucocorticoid receptor alpha (Nr3c1), correlated with increasing levels of PCBs, indicating an effect of this persistent organic pollutant (POP) in these seals. Threshold values were calculated for these five genes, with the most conservative value being 1,380 ng/g lipid weight (lw). Approximately 14% of the seals sampled exceeded this threshold, suggesting a risk of adverse effects in a proportion of the local population attributed to PCBs. While the implications for these sublethal molecular changes at the individual or population level are unclear, contaminant-related changes in endocrine, immune, and molecular endpoints have been observed in ringed seals from the Baltic Sea exhibiting reproductive and developments abnormalities, and virus epizootics. Results of this study improve our understanding of the effects of PCBs in free-ranging marine mammals and provide new information needed to inform mitigation and monitoring efforts, both for ringed seals in the north and other seals around the world. / Graduate / 0306 / 0768 / 0383 / tanya@raincoast.org

Anecdotal reports, flipper tag returns, satellite migration paths, and above-water and net surveys have identified an important foraging area for sea turtles in the Robinson Point area, 12 kilometers southwest of Belize City. Visual observations confirmed that sea turtles were actively foraging at Robinson Point. Sixteen 30 minute visual observations from stationary and drifting boats made 132 sea turtle sightings from October 2007 through January 2008, with a maximum of 40 sightings made in one survey. In-water capture methodology tested the traditional turtle net, which captured 14 turtles in 63 sets for a success rate of only 22%. There were 11 green turtles captured during the migratory months from April through October, and three hawksbill turtles were captured during non-migratory months, November through March, indicating that both species were resident at Robinson Point. No loggerheads, adult males, or juvenile turtles were captured, but anecdotal reports confirmed presence. Size range for captured hawksbills was between 63.7 - 80.4 cm SCLnn and between 70.9 - 91.5 cm SCLnn for green turtles. There were two recaptured turtles. One was a nesting hawksbill tagged in Mexico in 2008 and recaptured at Robinson Point in 2009, and the other was a sub adult hawksbill that was captured at Robinson Point in 2008 and recaptured in 2013 in Nicaragua. There was a small growth of fibropapilloma on one green turtle. Habitat surveys suggest benthic communities are more diverse than previously described consisting of prey items sought by sea turtles. Geomorphology of the Robinson Point area is equally diverse and provides shelter for resident turtles. Proposed boundaries for a turtle conservation zone at Robinson Point and an internesting zone to protect turtles at Belize premier hawksbill nesting beach at Gales Point, are linked to existing protected areas, and would facilitate protection of sea turtles not only in Belize, but also throughout the Caribbean.

Large population declines for sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) in parts of its global range are well documented, resulting in a strong need for biologically informed conservation and management measures. Although sand tigers in the western North Atlantic have been listed as a Species of Concern by the US government since 1997, details of their seasonal migratory movements and especially vertical habitat use patterns along the US East Coast are limited. Understanding these movement patterns is vital to reducing fishery-related mortality of these sharks and informing other management efforts aimed at recovery of their stocks in the US Atlantic. Although survey and fishery-dependent data have revealed a general picture of the seasonal distribution patterns of sand tiger sharks, details of the areas specifically used by these sharks and their movements between such areas remain unclear. Additionally, information on vertical habitat use such as preferred depth and temperature, as well as variability observed among sexes, size classes and geographic locations would provide insight into the fine-scale distribution of sand tigers to aid better management practices. Here, I report on the horizontal and vertical movements of sand tiger sharks along the US East Coast determined through use of pop-up archival transmitter (PAT) tags and supplemental acoustic telemetry. PAT tags were deployed on 14 sand tiger sharks in Delaware Bay in late summer 2008. Sufficient archived depth and temperature data were obtained from 11 sharks (eight male, three female), and sufficient light data allowed construction of long-term horizontal tracks for 10 sharks (seven male, three female) using a Kalman filter state-space model. Duration of tag deployment per animal ranged from 64-154 days ( =121.6). All seven male sharks left Delaware Bay in late summer/early autumn and migrated south along the US East Coast reaching waters off North Carolina, where they remained until transmitter detachment during the winter months. In contrast, all three females moved out of Delaware Bay into deeper, offshore waters east of the bay near the continental slope. During southern migration of males, average depth utilized was positively correlated to shark size. The smallest males spent on average over 90% of their time in waters <40 >m, whereas intermediate and large sized males spent only 54 and 38% of their time at depths <40 >m, respectively. Female sharks spent an average of 46% of their time in waters range, spending at least 95% of their time in waters 17-23oC, with little difference between size classes or sexes. Horizontal movements of male migrating sand tigers also revealed several areas of concentrated activity along their southern migratory routes. Migratory patterns of sand tiger sharks along the US East Coast appear most similar to patterns displayed by this species along the coast of South America. Further delineation of western North Atlantic continental shelf and slope core areas of sand tiger shark activity, especially for females, will inform efforts to reduce interactions with commercial fisheries and measures to avoid habitat degradation - management aspects that will aid in reducing mortality and enhance rebuilding of sand tiger stocks along the US East Coast.

L’étude des déplacements des baleines à bosse (Megaptera novaeangliae) en relation avec les paramètres environnementaux permet d’apporter des informations précieuses sur leur distribution et leurs préférences d’habitats. Grâce à des données d’observations opportunistes collectées dans le canal de Sainte Marie (Nord-Est de Madagascar) et des données de télémétrie collectées pour cette étude (25 baleines équipées de balises Argos), cette thèse a pour objectif l’étude des déplacements et de l’utilisation de l’habitat des baleines à bosse de Madagascar en fonction du sexe et du statut reproducteur. Des variables physiographiques et océanographiques (mesurées par satelllite) ont été extraites sous chaque position. Un schéma général d’utilisation de l’habitat en période de reproduction a également été proposé à partir de données de télémétrie provenant de différentes zones de reproduction de l’Hémisphère Sud: le Brésil (n=82 individus), l’Australie de l’Ouest (n=26) et l’Australie de l’Est (n=11). Dans le canal de Sainte Marie, nos résultats ont montré une ségrégation temporelle d’un mois avec une première partie de saison dominée par les groupes avec baleineaux et une seconde dominée par les groupes sans baleineaux (Chapitre III). La profondeur influence la distribution des groupes sociaux avec une préférence des couples mère-baleineau pour les plus faibles profondeurs (< 20 m). Le long de la côte de Madagascar, les déplacements localisés des femelles sont associés à des habitats plus profonds et plus éloignés de la côte que ce qui avait été supposé (Chapitre IV). En revanche, les mâles ne semblent pas montrer de préférences d’habitats particuliers bien qu’ils diminuent leur vitesse de nage dans les zones peu profondes. En zone océanique, les individus se déplacent de façon plus erratique dans les eaux les moins profondes, de faible courant ou les plus riches en chlorophylle a. La vitesse du courant de surface ne semble pas être un facteur majeur dans le déplacement des baleines à bosse. Cependant, elles semblent suivre la même direction que celui-ci lorsque ce dernier est fort. Notre étude comparative entres les zones de reproduction a montré que la distribution spatiale varie selon la période de la saison, entre les sites étudiés et selon le sexe (Chapitre V). En début et fin de saison, les mâles se déplacent de manière plus directe et exploitent des zones plus au large que les femelles, notamment celles avec baleineau. Au pic de la saison, les mâles et les femelles effectuent des déplacements plus localisés. La prise en compte des différences dans la variabilité spatio-temporelle des mâles et des femelles en zone de reproduction apparait être une nécessité pour mieux comprendre l’écologie des baleines à bosse et contribuer à la conservation de l’espèce. / Of key importance for the comprehension of humpback whales’ (Megaptera novaeangliae) distribution patterns and habitat use is to quantify how ecological and environmental factors affect the distribution of animals, which requires knowledge on dispersal movements of individuals. Using an opportunistic sightings dataset collected in the Sainte Marie Channel (Northeast of Madagascar) and satellite telemetry data acquired for this study (25 tagged whales), the aim of this thesis was to study the movements and the habitat use of humpback whales in Madagascar during the breeding season, according to sex and reproductive status. Physiographic and oceanographic variables (measured by satellite) were extracted under each position. A general distribution pattern of habitat use during the breeding season was also proposed based on additional humpback whales tracks from others breeding grounds of the Southern Hemisphere: Brazil (n=82 individuals), the Western Australian coast (n=26), and the Eastern Australian coast (n=11). In the Sainte-Marie Channel, groups without calves dominated the first 30 days of the breeding season, followed by an increase in groups with calves (Chapter III). Water depth influenced the distribution of social groups with mother-calf pairs more frequently found in relatively shallow water (0-20 m). Along the coast of Madagascar, over the shelf, females showed localized behavior in deep water and at large distances from shore suggesting that their breeding habitat extends beyond the shallow coastal waters (Chapter IV). Males’ active swimming speed decreased in shallow waters, but we found no influence of environmental parameters on males’ movements. In oceanic habitats, both males and females showed localized behaviors in shallow waters and high surface chlorophyll-a concentrations. The active swimming speed accounts for a large proportion of the whale observed speed while observed direction of tagged whales tending to be closer to the current direction when the current intensity was high. Our comparative study between breeding areas showed that the spatial distribution varies according to the period of the season, between the studied sites, sex and breeding status (Chapter V). Early and late in the season, males moved more directly and in more offshore areas than females, especially females with calves. At the peak of the season, both males and females performed more localized movements than at the other periods. Accounting for differences in the spatio-temporal variability of the distribution of males and females in the breeding grounds seems a necessity to better understand the humpback whales ecology and contribute to the species conservation.

No description available.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / As tartarugas marinhas são espécies ameaçadas, altamente migratórias que apresentam um ciclo de vida longo e uma ampla distribuição geográfica. Assim, melhorar a nossa compreensão sobre a ecologia espacial das tartarugas marinhas é essencial para a elucidação de aspectos da sua história de vida e para o desenvolvimento de medidas eficazes de conservação. Esta tese compreende um conjunto de artigos ou capítulos que visam contribuir ao conhecimento da ecologia espacial da tartaruga-de-couro, Dermochelys coriacea. Este estudo utilizou novas tecnologias como à telemetria por satélite (que proporciona um método útil para monitorar os movimentos de espécies migratórias) e um conjunto de ferramentas de geoprocessamento como abordagem metodológica que visou: examinar os movimentos e migrações da tartaruga-de-couro, identificar áreas de uso intenso e padrões espaço-temporais no uso do habitat, e integrar dados biológicos e oceanográficos para descrever as estratégias comportamentais desta espécie. Cinco tartarugas-de-couro (um subaduto, dois machos adultos e duas fêmeas adultas) foram equipadas com transmissores por satélite no Atlântico Sul Ocidental entre 2005 e 2008. Além de fornecer dados de localização geográfica os tansmissores permitiram registrar informações de mergulho tais como profundidade e duração máxima e media dos mergulhos, perfis completos de mergulhos individuais e dados de temperatura do mar. Movimentos e migrações de tartarugas-de-couro marcadas no Atlântico Sul foram documentados pela primeira vez. Alem disso, foi posível identificar áreas de uso intenso (ou alimentação) previamente desconhecidas para a espécie, assim como uma residência sazonal nestas áreas localizadas em águas tropicais e temperadas fora da costa sul-americana (19-45S). A sazonalidade dos movimentos esteve intimamente associada a processos físicos sazonais de pequena e mesoescala. Dependendo do ambiente marinho explorado, durante os períodos de residência, as tartarugas apresentaram diferentes estratégias alimentares identificadas através da análise dos padrões de mergulho. / Sea turtles are long-lived, highly migratory endangered species with a wide distribution. Thus improving our knowledge of the spatial ecology of sea turtles is essential for elucidating aspects of their life history and for the development of effective conservation measures. This thesis comprises a collection of articles or chapters that aim to contribute to the knowledge of the spatial ecology of the leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea. This study used new technologies such as satellite telemetry (which provides a useful approach for tracking the movements of migratory species) and a set of geoprocessing tools as a methodological approach that aimed to: examine the movements and migrations of leatherback turtles, identify high use areas and spatio-temporal patterns of habitat use, and integrate biological and environmental data to describe foraging strategies of this species. Five leatherback turtles (a subadut, two adult males and two adult females) were fitted with satellite transmitters in the Southwest Atlantic between 2005 and 2008. Besides providing geographical location data the transmitters also recorded dive information such as mean and maximum dive depth and duration, individual dive profiles and water temperature data. For the first time the movements and migrations of leatherback turtles tagged in the South Atlantic were documented. Previously unidentified high use areas (or foraging areas) were recognized for this species, also a seasonal residence along those areas located in tropical and temperate areas off the coast of South America (19-45 S). The seasonal movements were closely associated with small and mesoscale physical seasonal processes. Depending on the marine environment exploited during periods of residence, the turtles showed different foraging strategies identified through the analysis of the diving patterns.

Submitted by (edna.saturno@ufrpe.br) on 2017-02-08T15:28:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruno Cesar Luz Macena Rocha.pdf: 2783358 bytes, checksum: 0c7cc3375d48be56cad1fcf79ba55824 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-08T15:28:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruno Cesar Luz Macena Rocha.pdf: 2783358 bytes, checksum: 0c7cc3375d48be56cad1fcf79ba55824 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-17 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / In Saint Peter and Saint Paul archipelago (SPSPA), located at mid-Atlantic ridge, near to Equator line, population aspects of whale sharks was analized through in situ observation on distribution, seasonality, different behavior, and photo-identification. The movements of whale sharks was tracked using two models of satellite tag: SAT (Satellite Argos-linked transmitter) and PSAT (Pop up satellite archival transmitting tag) in one male (TB-01; 4.8 m) and one female (TB-02; 8.5 m),respectively. Whale shark occur in SPSP adjacencies yearround,although, are more abundant in the first semester, mainly, in February, March, and June. The annual record mean was 10.8 year-1 between 2000 and 2009. The size ranges from 1.8 to 14.0 m with mean± s.d. equal to 7.4± 2.4 m and the majority (62.9%) of whale sharks smaller than 9.0 m, under the estimated size at first maturation. Data received from Argos Satellite system indicate that the whale shark swam away from archipelago heading west. Both sharks spent the major of the time at surface, and the TB-02 dove into bathypelagic zone, attaining the maximum depth of 1,976 m. This was the first initiative to understand behavioral and population dynamics aspects of the whale sharks as well as the movement in Brazil and Equatorial Atlantic from SPSPA and will continue in the hope of building better conservation strategies. / No Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo (ASPSP), localizado na dorsal meso-Atlântica, próximo à linha do Equador, foram analisados aspectos da população do tubarão baleia por meio de observação in situ. Informações sobre a distribuição e sazonalidade de ocorrência, diferentes comportamentos foram coletados e, quando possível, os espécimes foram fotografados para posterior individualização. Para elucidação do deslocamento do tubarão-baleia, a partir do ASPSP, foram utilizados dois modelos de transmissores via satélite, o SAT (Satellite Argos-linked tag) e o PSAT (Pop up satellite archival transmitting tag) em um macho (TB-01) e uma fêmea (TB-02) de 4,8 e 8,5 m, respectivamente. Os tubarões-baleia visitam o arquipélago durante o ano inteiro, entretanto, o primeiro semestre possui uma frequência mais elevada, principalmente nos meses de fevereiro, março e junho. A média anual de registros foi 10,8 ano-1 entre 2000 e 2009. Os comprimentos variaram entre 1,8 e 14,0 m com média± d.p. igual a 7,4± 2,4 m, com a maior parte (62,9%) dos tubarõesbaleia com comprimento abaixo do tamanho estimado para primeira maturação. Os dados dos transmissores recebidos pelo Sistema Argos de satélites indicaram que os tubarões se afastaram do ASPSP, logo após a marcação, em direção oeste. Ambos os tubarões permaneceram a maior parte do tempo na superfície e o TB-02 realizou mergulhos batipelágicos alcançando a profundidade máxima de 1.976 m. Esta foi a primeira iniciativa para se compreender aspectos populacionais e comportamentais, bem como da movimentação de tubarões-baleia no Brasil e no Atlântico Equatorial a partir do ASPSP e terá continuidade na expectativa de construir de estratégias espaciais de conservação.