ABSTRACT
Telemetry and biologging approaches are commonly used to understand the movement ecology, spatial use, and behavior of marine vertebrates (Hays et al., 2016). For species with wide-ranging and unpredictable movement patterns (e.g., many pelagic sharks), satellite-linked telemetry devices are usually required to remotely monitor their movements through time and in the three-dimensional space of the open ocean or coastal areas they inhabit. By instrumenting an animal, researchers make an assumption that the data collected by the tag are representative of the “true” or “normal” behavior of the targeted species in the wild. However, issues associated with the technology (e.g., spatial error, uplink rate), sample design (e.g., whether or not instrumented animals are representative of the population as a whole), behavior of animals in response to the presence of the tag, and analytical methods applied to the data can affect the accuracy and robustness of results and ultimately our interpretation of biological patterns. In this chapter, we review the range of satellite tags available for sharks and rays, methods of attachment, study design, types of data these tags provide, and the methodologies for analysis and application of data collected by satellite telemetry. This information will assist researchers in tag selection, data processing, and analysis and provide insight into emerging technologies and new directions for the eld of satellite telemetry applied to sharks and rays.
