Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) Project: 5 Questions for Principal Investigator Randy Kochevar
Last month, the results of the first Census of Marine Life (2000–10) were released to the public. The project, which catalogued the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine organisms, involved 17 separate field projects spread across the world’s oceans. Among them was the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program, which tracked and monitored 23 species of animal, from the Humboldt squid to the Laysan albatross to that carnivorous showboat, the great white shark.
(From Britannica) — Britannica research editor Richard Pallardy posed some questions about the project to Randy Kochevar, principal investigator and public outreach coordinator for TOPP. Kochevar, who has in the past studied the organisms that live around hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal vents, was with the project from its inception. He now oversees public outreach initiatives for the Block Lab at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA.
Britannica: How were the species of predators that were tracked as part of this project selected?
Kochevar: In 1999 we began by assembling a large group of prospective collaborators who had been doing similar work, tagging and tracking ocean animals. We took suggestions from the group to make a big wish list, and then started narrowing it down. Some of the criteria were logistical – having to do with how readily the animals could be tagged, and at what cost.
But other considerations had to do more with the scientific questions we were hoping to ask.
One thing we were interested in was being able to compare seemingly similar species, to understand how they are ecologically distinct. So we tried to identify “guilds” of animals that would lend themselves to these kinds of comparisons. So for example, we had a tuna guild with bluefin, yellowfin and albacore tunas; and a lamnid shark guild, with salmon sharks, mako sharks and white sharks.
Eventually we ended up with a list of 23 species that we felt met all our criteria – although through our “TOPP Partners” program we have been able to incorporate some additional species not on that initial list.
Britannica: What types of data have been collected and how has that data filled in the gaps in our understanding of the lives of these predators?
Kochevar: Typically tags recorded depth, temperature and light – which is used to calculate location. The location data is the one most people think of in animal tracking projects, and we were often surprised to learn where animals actually went during their annual migrations. The depth data helped us to learn about their diving behavior, which can in turn tell us about what they are doing at different points along their journey. And the temperature data, along with other oceanographic data collected on some tags, tells us more about the environment the animals encountered along the way. Over the course of the decade of TOPP, the tagged animals collected hundreds of thousands of temperature/depth profiles of the ocean – a volume of data that would have cost millions of dollars and man hours to obtain any other way.
Britannica: How can understanding apex predators like great white sharks help us to understand the ocean ecosystem as a whole?
Kochevar: In talks about the TOPP program, we often begin with an analogy that is familiar to many people – of watching predators stalking prey on the African plain. If we were to observe only the predators – the lions, cheetahs, the hyenas, etc. – we would soon see that their movements follow those of the herbivores on which they feed, like zebras, antelope, etc. And the movements of these prey animals, in turn, are shaped by the availability of rich vegetation and water. So by watching the apex predators, we can readily discern the fertile valleys, the watering holes, the deserts, and the migratory corridors among them.
In the oceans, it is the same. By watching the apex predators, we can begin to discern the critical habitat areas used by multiple species. We can also see the ocean highways where animals travel from place to place, as well as the deserts where few animals roam. And by overlaying the movement data with oceanographic data, we can begin to understand what factors shape these different regions. So just by focusing on the apex predators, we can begin to understand how the overall ecosystem functions.
Britannica: What types of technology have been deployed as part of this project?
Kochevar: One decision we made early on was to rely on well-characterized tags for the bulk of our tagging efforts. TOPP scientists did help to refine and test a few tag innovations, such as GPS-based tags and tags that measure water salinity; but the greatest technical innovations were probably in the area of data management. Because nobody had ever undertaken such a large tagging project before, with so many different species carrying so many different types of tags, we had to develop a very flexible and powerful data management system which would allow us to assimilate, visualize, and analyze lots of different data types, and to deliver these data to our researchers on demand.
Britannica: Do any of these tagging procedures interfere with the animals’ natural behavior?
Kochevar: It’s a hard question to answer – since we don’t really have a way of observing un-tagged animals to make the comparisons. However, this is such a critical aspect of our work that we have done all we can to ensure that the tags allow the animals to function normally once they are released. We know that the vast majority of our animals continue to feed and migrate after they are tagged – as is obvious in the TOPP dataset. We’ve had many different fishes and sharks get re-captured months or years after they were tagged, with no signs of infection, etc., and we’ve had a variety of tagged animals successfully reproduce – suggesting that the tags do not interfere with their interactions with other animals.