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Over 25 years ago the first satellite tracking studies of sea turtles were published. The technology and attachment methods have now come of age with long-term tracks over a year being commonplace and the ability to relay high resolution GPS locations via the Argos satellite system along with behavioural (e.g. diving and activity) and environmental (e.g. temperature) data. Early studies focused on breeding females because they come ashore to nest, allowing individuals to be restrained relatively easily for tag attachment. However, today the development of methods for the capture of turtles at sea are increasingly allowing studies on both adult male turtles as well as immature turtles as small as 11cm carapace length. Here we review the extent of work after many thousands of individual turtles have been tracked. We consider the state-of-the-art equipment for satellite tracking turtles and how this technology is being used to tackle key questions. We highlight some of the emerging opportunities arising from improved spatial resolution of tracking, increased robustness and miniaturisation of tags as well as increasing availability of environmental data. We highlight the huge potential for big-data studies to make use of the thousands of tracks that exist, although we discuss the long-standing challenges surrounding data accessibility.

We describe the real-time movements of the last of the marine mega-vertebrate taxa to be satellite tracked - the giant manta ray (or devil fish, Manta birostris), the world's largest ray at over 6 m disc width. Almost nothing is known about manta ray movements and their environmental preferences, making them one of the least understood of the marine mega-vertebrates. Red listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as 'Vulnerable' to extinction, manta rays are known to be subject to direct and incidental capture and some populations are declining. Satellite-tracked manta rays associated with seasonal upwelling events and thermal fronts off the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, and made short-range shuttling movements, foraging along and between them. The majority of locations were received from waters shallower than 50 m deep, representing thermally dynamic and productive waters. Manta rays remained in the Mexican Exclusive Economic Zone for the duration of tracking but only 12% of tracking locations were received from within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Our results on the spatio-temporal distribution of these enigmatic rays highlight opportunities and challenges to management efforts.

The study presents the first national assessment of a nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum ) population, conducted using a combination of transect surveys and baited remote underwater videos (BRUVs). Density of nurse sharks in Belize was found to be higher in reefs than in lagoons, and in the atolls furthest away from the mainland and human settlements. Only large and old protected areas were found to have a positive impact on nurse shark abundance. Absolute abundance of nurse sharks was estimated using distance sampling analysis, giving a total nurse shark population in the range of 3,858 to 14,375 sharks. Thanks to a vast area of suitable habitat for nurse sharks in the country and legislation already in place for the safeguard of the species, Belize could represent an important hotspot for nurse sharks in the Western Atlantic. The data presented here hence offers a baseline for the long-term monitoring of the Belizean nurse shark population and improves our understanding of nurse shark abundance and distribution in the wider Caribbean basin.

The Red Sea is particularly biodiverse, hosting high levels of endemism and numerous populations whose extinction risk is heightened by their relative isolation. Elasmobranchs and sea turtles have likely suffered recent declines in this region, although data on their distribution and biology are severely lacking, especially on the eastern side of the basin in Saudi Arabian waters. Here, we present sightings of elasmobranchs and sea turtles across the north-eastern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba collected through a combination of survey methods. Over 455 survey hours, we recorded 407 sightings belonging to 26 elasmobranch species and two sea turtle species, more than 75% of which are of conservation concern. We identified 4 species of rays and 9 species of sharks not previously recorded in Saudi Arabia and report a range extension for the pink whipray ( Himantura fai ) and the round ribbontail ray ( Taeniurops meyeni ) into the Gulf of Aqaba. High density of sightings of conservation significance, including green and hawksbill sea turtles and halavi guitarfish were recorded in bay systems along the eastern Gulf of Aqaba and the Saudi Arabian coastline bordering the north-eastern Red Sea, and many carcharhinid species were encountered at offshore seamounts in the region. Our findings provide new insights into the distribution patterns of megafaunal assemblages over smaller spatial scales in the region, and facilitate future research and conservation efforts, amidst ongoing, large-scale coastal developments in the north-eastern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise by up to 0.82 m in the next 100 years. In natural systems, coastlines would migrate landwards, but because most of the world’s human population occupies the coast, anthropogenic structures (such as sea walls or buildings) have been constructed to defend the shore and prevent loss of property. This can result in a net reduction in beach area, a phenomenon known as “coastal squeeze”, which will reduce beach availability for species such as marine turtles. As of yet, no global assessment of potential future coastal squeeze risk at marine turtle nesting beaches has been conducted. We used Google Earth satellite imagery to enumerate the proportion of beaches over the global nesting range of marine turtles that are backed by hard anthropogenic coastal development (HACD). Mediterranean and North American nesting beaches had the most HACD, while the Australian and African beaches had the least. Loggerhead and Kemp’s ridley turtle nesting beaches had the most HACD, and flatback and green turtles the least. Future management approaches should prioritise the conservation of beaches with low HACD to mitigate future coastal squeeze.

Understanding the spatial ecology of commercially exploited species is vital for their conservation. Atlantic bluefin tuna ( Thunnus thynnus , ABT) are increasingly observed in northeast Atlantic waters, yet knowledge of these individuals’ spatial ecology remains limited. We investigate the horizontal and vertical habitat use of ABT (158 to 241 cm curved fork length; CFL) tracked from waters off the United Kingdom (UK) using pop-up satellite archival tags ( n  = 63). Analyses reveal distinctive movements from the UK to the Bay of Biscay (BoB) and Central North Atlantic between September and December, and size-specific habitat preferences in May and July—all ABT < 175 cm CFL inhabiting the BoB and 73% of ABT ≥ 175 the Mediterranean Sea. All ABT tracked for more than 300 days ( n  = 25) returned to waters off the UK the following year, where most stayed ( n  = 22; 88%) and three continuing north with deployments ending off northwest Ireland. ABT mostly occupied waters between 0 and 20 m (daytime 49 ± 6% of time; nighttime 71 ± 6%). Vertical habitat use was coupled with illumination, mean depth occupied, maximum depth reached, and vertical movement rate increased during the daytime and when moons were brightest. These data provide valuable insights into the spatial ecology of ABT reoccupying northerly foraging areas following decades of absence.

While biologging tags have answered a wealth of ecological questions, the drivers and consequences of movement and activity often remain difficult to ascertain, particularly marine vertebrates which are difficult to observe directly. Basking sharks, the second largest shark species in the world, aggregate in the summer in key foraging sites but despite advances in biologging technologies, little is known about their breeding ecology and sub-surface behaviour. Advances in camera technologies holds potential for filling in these knowledge gaps by providing environmental context and validating behaviours recorded with conventional telemetry. Six basking sharks were tagged at their feeding site in the Sea of Hebrides, Scotland, with towed cameras combined with time-depth recorders and satellite telemetry. Cameras recorded a cumulative 123 hours of video data over an average 64-hour deployment and confirmed the position of the sharks within the water column. Feeding events only occurred within a metre depth and made up ¾ of the time spent swimming near the surface. Sharks maintained similar tail beat frequencies regardless of whether feeding, swimming near the surface or the seabed, where they spent surprisingly up to 88% of daylight hours. This study reported the first complete breaching event and the first sub-surface putative courtship display, with nose-to-tail chasing, parallel swimming as well as the first observation of grouping behaviour near the seabed. Social groups of sharks are thought to be very short term and sporadic, and may play a role in finding breeding partners, particularly in solitary sharks which may use aggregations as an opportunity to breed. In situ observation of basking sharks at their seasonal aggregation site through animal borne cameras revealed unprecedented insight into the social and environmental context of basking shark behaviour which were previously limited to surface observations.

Animal-borne tags are widely used for tracking and monitoring the movements, behaviour, and ecology of marine animals. Tagging can, however, adversely affect the hydrodynamic force balance and welfare of tagged animals, and consequently, the reliability and accuracy of data, such as by increasing drag, altering swimming characteristics, and reducing the survival rate of tagged animals. Therefore, it is important to understand and quantify the impact of tagging on marine animal hydrodynamics and to optimize the choice of tag and attachment position. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling is used to simulate the flow around tagged and untagged mako sharks (Lamnidae) across their swim speed range for two dominant tag shapes, tagging sites, and body sizes. The results indicate that fin mounted tags can have a significant impact on shark hydrodynamics and energetic balance, increasing drag between 17.6% and 31.2% for a mako shark (2.95 m fork length) across the range of flow velocities tested (0.5 to 9.1 m/s). In comparison, the optimal tagging site for archival tags attached to the dorsal musculature leads to a minimal increase in drag for the larger sharks (>1.5 m), which becomes considerable for small sharks (1 m fork length; 5.1% to 7.6% increase) and leads to an average energetic cost equivalent to 7% of the daily energetic requirement of an untagged animal. Other aspects of the force balance are considered, which reveal a range of varied and complex effects. Recommendations for animal size thresholds (>1.5 m FL) and refinements of tagging practice are suggested.

The Red Sea is particularly biodiverse, hosting high levels of endemism and numerous populations whose extinction risk is heightened by their relative isolation. Elasmobranchs and sea turtles have likely suffered recent declines in this region, although data on their distribution and biology are severely lacking, especially on the eastern side of the basin in Saudi Arabian waters. Here, we present sightings of elasmobranchs and sea turtles across the north-eastern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba collected through a combination of survey methods. Over 455 survey hours, we recorded 407 sightings belonging to 26 elasmobranch species and two sea turtle species, more than 75% of which are of conservation concern. We identified 4 species of rays and 9 species of sharks not previously recorded in Saudi Arabia and report a range extension for the pink whipray (Himantura fai) and the round ribbontail ray (Taeniurops meyeni) into the Gulf of Aqaba. High density of sightings of conservation significance, including green and hawksbill sea turtles and halavi guitarfish were recorded in bay systems along the eastern Gulf of Aqaba and the Saudi Arabian coastline bordering the north-eastern Red Sea, and many carcharhinid species were encountered at offshore seamounts in the region. Our findings provide new insights into the distribution patterns of megafaunal assemblages over smaller spatial scales in the region, and facilitate future research and conservation efforts, amidst ongoing, large-scale coastal developments in the north-eastern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba.