Using GIS to Analyze Movement of Tiger Sharks

Created by: Taylor Stokesbary, Marcus Hoeflinger, Katrina Peterson & Michael Caban II Akamai-Stephens

In light of the increased number of recent unprovoked shark attacks within the Hawaiian Islands and primarily Maui, scientists at the Hawaii Marine Institute of Biology have implemented a study to learn more about these animals’ long term movement patterns and habits. Scientist began tagging Tiger sharks off the shores of Maui and plan to continue tagging efforts towards Oahu.

This project is funded by the Hawaii state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR). These data were collected by principal investigators Carl Meyer, Ph.D. and Kim Holland, Ph.D. along with other members of the Shark Research Team of the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

The information gained from this study will hopefully lead to better management and understanding of these predators, as well as providing accurate information in order for state of Hawaii officials to respond appropriately. Researcher also hope this study will provide insight as to why culling programs previously seen in Hawaii between 1959 through 1976 are not an effective way to deal with shark attacks.  

So far researchers have implanted over one hundred tiger sharks with coded acoustic tags, and have also equipped a number of these sharks with satellite transmitters (SPOT & PAT tags). Information is being retrieved by a listening array of over 100 underwater receivers deployed throughout the 2,500 km Hawaiian Archipelago, from Kure Atoll to Hawaii Island. Pop-Up Archival Satellite Tags (PATs) are programed to detach after a period of time, and store large volumes of data in onboard memory and summarize data for lower-volume transmission to satellites. SPOT tags send data from their host animal remotely via sound or radio waves to Argos satellite whenever the tag breaks the surface of the water.

Through this study, data received from each animal is put onto a public website called PacIOOS Voyager. This site has many features and several types of data available. This lab is designed to give you the tools to navigate this website, and then learn how to transfer the available data using excel into a site called ArcGIS.

ArcGIS is an online source that allows the public to import data from a CSV file onto a map, and analyze multiple layers of information at once. ArcGIS is a tool that can be applied to several areas of study, and in this lab we will be using it to enhance students’ understanding of map reading, ocean bathymetry, and shark tracking.

This lab is designed to address the following Next Generation Science Standards: - RST.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem. - WHST.9-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

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Using PacIOOS Voyager

Go to the PacIOOS Voyager site at http://oos.soest.hawaii.edu/pacioos/voyager/. Exit out of the “About PacIOOS Voyager…” the box on the initial screen. At the top left corner select the pull down box that says “Which one?” and choose Hawaii. On the left side of the screen there is a sidebar with various tabs, we will be using the Fish and Wildlife tab.

Tips for using PacIOOS Voyager:

To read about a section click on the word for a text box to appear To open the menu of a section, click the + to the left of the word, and click the - to

minimize the section again To clear the screen of the current selection you need to deselect the boxes and settings

previously in use When displaying a certain number of points, it will display that # for the zoom scale

you are at, if you zoom in closer on an area it will continue to show XX number of points for that new scale and new points will appear

How the shark movements are tracked: Click on each tab listed under Fish and Wildlife to learn the three ways that shark movement is shown on this site.

● Tracking ● Sightings ● Distributions

Sightings: To focus on the cluster of data points surrounding the Main Hawaiian Islands follow these steps:.

1. Open the Sightings tab2. Open the Sharks tab3. Open the tiger tab4. Select the Points box5. Open the Advanced tab 6. Under the advanced tab, you can select how many data points

you want to see. It shows the # of points to view at one time; if

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you zoom or move the map around on the screen it will show you new points in the specific area.

7. To add the range setting, on the bottom of the left toolbar click on the heading titled “range” with your mouse, place the central point around Kihei, Maui by clicking on the spot. Zoom in and out to look at different range distances of the islands.

Use this table to identify the sex

and distance range of the 15 of the data points that are shown in your screen.

After looking at the data table consider this:

-Are there more males than females?

-Is either sex more abundant in a certain range?

-Are there more sharks in one of the ranges?

*Deselect the ‘points’ box and close the sightings tab to clear the screen.

Using Tracking: This section will show you how to track a specific shark.

1. Open the Tracking tab2. Open sharks3. Open tiger4. From here you will be able to select a specific shark. Select any shark with a tag ID higher than 100000.5. Check the boxes below for “show legend” and “path” then open the advanced tab. Checking the box that says “Include lines” will show a line connecting each point, and selecting

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Sex of Shark Range

“include arrows” will show the direction of points. Direction is also indicated by color scale in the legend.

6. Select “50” from the point’s dropdown menu. In the advanced settings it’s possible to specify a

date or time range You can also watch an animation of the tracking

which will show you point by point movements.

Transferring Data from PacIOOS to Excel

Without closing the PacIOOS site, open an Excel sheet.

1. In Excel, label the first row of columns as shown.

2. Go back to PacIOOS and go to the left sidebar on the website3. On the left sidebar select fish and wildlife4. Select tracking5. Select sharks6. Select tiger 7. Under tiger using the drop down arrow, select any

tagged tiger shark.

8. What is your tiger shark’s ID number? (Pick shark with an ID above 100000 ) ____________________.

9. Scroll down from the id number check the box next to path. Scroll down to advanced click the +. Using the drop down arrow select 5 pointsOn PacIOOS you should see the path of your shark.

10. Following the start and finish points, click on each circle and write down the latitude and longitude.

Latitude

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Longitude

Once the information is written down, transfer this information into your excel spreadsheet.

(You can also copy the latitude/longitude information from PacIOOS and paste into the Excel spreadsheet instead of writing it down.)

1. Once the latitude and longitude is loaded into Excel we can transfer these data to ArcGIS.

2. To import into ArcGIS, in the top left corner of your Excel spreadsheet select File3. Select Save As4. Select a file name for example: Animal tracking data or shark data, etc.5. Then Save as type select the drop down arrow on the far right and select CSV

(comma delimited)

Mac users: Save as Type is called Format comma sep. values (.csv)

6. Select SaveYou are now ready to import these data to ArcGIS!

ArcGIS Explorer

Go to https://www.arcgis.com/home/signin.htmlCreate a new account or login to ArcGIS with the following account:Username: “sharklab”Password: “biteme”

Open a New Map1. After signing in to the ArcGIS account, click “map” at the top of the page.2. After opening the map feature click “new map” at the upper right hand corner of the page.

Creating a Map and adding Layers

Begin by adding the Shark CSV data file into the ArcGIS

1. Import the .CSV file containing your Shark Tracking Data. Select the “add” tab, then select the “add layer from file” option. Click “Choose file” and select the .CSV file, containing your spreadsheet of the shark data that you created in excel, then click import layer.

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2. Now select an Ocean Basemap to start drawing inquiry into the shark movement. Select the “Basemap” tab and click on the ocean map. This will highlight ocean seafloor topographic features.

You now have the shark tracking data in a customizable map in ArcGIS. We can now add other layers to this map by importing other data sets or searching the layer database provided in the search feature.

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Exploring layers and adding them to the map

1. Click the “add” tab and select “search for layers”. Type in “Bathymetric” and click search. Under the search results find the layer titled “GEBCO_08 Bathymetry Contours” and click add.

Note: You can search for layers by typing in any keyword for a particular type of data. For example, Searching “Hawaii” will provide all layers pertaining to Hawaii. Using multiple keywords will refine the search. Ex: “Hawaii” “Ocean”.

ArcGIS tips

1. Under the details tab, select the “content” sub-tab in order to manage and edit your different layers. You may edit layers by adjusting the transparency, changing symbols or removing layers. (Changing the symbols is a useful tool.) It will allow you to differentiate multiple layers of uploaded CSV data sheets. You may also edit the color of the symbols to represent data ranges within the layer, such as the date of each point.

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2. Click the legend tab to view the description of the icons found on your map.

We now have a map which displays the contours of different depths in Ocean Bathymetry overlayed with our shark tracking data.

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Analyzing ArcGIS Map and develop hypothesis

By adding as Layers, which show various ocean aspects, you can develop hypothesis based on the relationship to the Sharks movement. Try adding one layer at a time and think about the possible relationship to the sharks’ location.

Extension Activities: These extensions may meet the following Math Standards:

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-MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

HSN.Q.A.1 Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multi-step problems; choose and interpret units consistently in formulas; choose and interpret the scale and the origin in graphs and data displays.

I. Finding the next most likely point, by using mean location

1. In excel open a spreadsheet, containing a Dataset for a specific tiger shark.

2. Use the columns containing the latitude and longitude for the shark. Allocate 5 more rows for further data input (go down five rows) and use the “average” formula for each column and select all rows with latitude and longitude data, including the five extra “blank” rows press enter when done. Do this for the latitude and longitude columns. Displayed numbers will be the average points for the sharks’ location.

3. These points can then be added to the map, in order to display the sharks’ average location.

4. Students can use this data to analyze trends in the sharks’ movement.

II. Distance calculation

1. Any two data points can be measured in distance by using this accurate distance calculation formula.

2. Choose two points from the dataset (lat, long 1; lat, long 2) use this formula to calculate the distance between the two points:

3. The answer will then need to be converted into spherical kilometers. (Every degree is 111km. so multiply the answer by 111 to get the distance between point A and point B in km.

4. Students can also compare the accuracy of their calculation by using ArcGIS distance tool.

Extra Materials

For more information on the Tiger Shark Tagging you can visit these links:

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Shark Tagging Videohttp://youtu.be/LrriX4GikC8

Types of Tags and Active Shark Tagging informationhttp://www.hawaii.edu/HIMB/ReefPredator/Tiger%20Shark%20Active%20Tracking.htm

Long-term Movement Patterns of Tiger Sharks in Hawaiihttp://www.hawaii.edu/HIMB/ReefPredator/Tiger%20Shark%20Research.htm

Tag Types and Info:http://www.hawaii.edu/himb/ReefPredator/Tools.htm

Other Sources: ● www.fishbase.org:  shark info, upload your own photos and videos.● www.Arkive.org:  shark photos and videos.● www.ESRI.com/subscribe : Subscription to ArcGIS site

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