Linking vertical movements of large pelagic predators with distribution patterns of biomass in the open ocean.

Many predator species make regular excursions from near-surface waters to the twilight (200 to 1,000 m) and midnight (1,000 to 3,000 m) zones of the deep pelagic ocean. While the occurrence of significant vertical movements into the deep ocean has evolved independently across taxonomic groups, the functional role(s) and ecological significance of these movements remain poorly understood. Here, we integrate results from satellite tagging efforts with model predictions of deep prey layers in the North Atlantic Ocean to determine whether prey distributions are correlated with vertical habitat use across 12 species of predators. Using 3D movement data for 344 individuals who traversed nearly 1.5 million km of pelagic ocean in [Formula: see text]42,000 d, we found that nearly every tagged predator frequented the twilight zone and many made regular trips to the midnight zone. Using a predictive model, we found clear alignment of predator depth use with the expected location of deep pelagic prey for at least half of the predator species. We compared high-resolution predator data with shipboard acoustics and selected representative matches that highlight the opportunities and challenges in the analysis and synthesis of these data. While not all observed behavior was consistent with estimated prey availability at depth, our results suggest that deep pelagic biomass likely has high ecological value for a suite of commercially important predators in the open ocean. Careful consideration of the disruption to ecosystem services provided by pelagic food webs is needed before the potential costs and benefits of proceeding with extractive activities in the deep ocean can be evaluated.

Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world's largest fish, the whale shark.

Marine traffic is increasing globally yet collisions with endangered megafauna such as whales, sea turtles, and planktivorous sharks go largely undetected or unreported. Collisions leading to mortality can have population-level consequences for endangered species. Hence, identifying simultaneous space use of megafauna and shipping throughout ranges may reveal as-yet-unknown spatial targets requiring conservation. However, global studies tracking megafauna and shipping occurrences are lacking. Here we combine satellite-tracked movements of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, and vessel activity to show that 92% of sharks' horizontal space use and nearly 50% of vertical space use overlap with persistent large vessel (>300 gross tons) traffic. Collision-risk estimates correlated with reported whale shark mortality from ship strikes, indicating higher mortality in areas with greatest overlap. Hotspots of potential collision risk were evident in all major oceans, predominantly from overlap with cargo and tanker vessels, and were concentrated in gulf regions, where dense traffic co-occurred with seasonal shark movements. Nearly a third of whale shark hotspots overlapped with the highest collision-risk areas, with the last known locations of tracked sharks coinciding with busier shipping routes more often than expected. Depth-recording tags provided evidence for sinking, likely dead, whale sharks, suggesting substantial "cryptic" lethal ship strikes are possible, which could explain why whale shark population declines continue despite international protection and low fishing-induced mortality. Mitigation measures to reduce ship-strike risk should be considered to conserve this species and other ocean giants that are likely experiencing similar impacts from growing global vessel traffic.

Long term outcomes of balloon sinuplasty for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with and without nasal polyps.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 4-year outcomes and effectiveness of balloon sinuplasty in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated the long-term outcomes in terms of symptoms, nasal endoscopy and computed tomography of 110 patients with CRS submitted to balloon sinuplasty in Centro Hospitalar do Funchal retrospectively. Sinus symptoms were determined by the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22), endoscopic examination determined by Modified Lund Kennedy score (MLK) and computerized tomography scan of paranasal sinuses (CT-PNS) was evaluated through Lund Mackay scores (LM). Data was collected from 82 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) and from 28 patients with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). RESULTS: Local anesthesia procedures were performed in 45.5% of the patients. First follow up was obtained at 2 years (median 22.45 ± 13.6 months) and at 4 years (median 44.45 ± 14 months) after balloon sinuplasty. The mean baseline SNOT-22 score was of 50.26 ± 15.33 for patients with CRSsNP and 52.25 ± 18.06 in CRSsNP patients. Both scores were reduced to 7.00 ± 13.5 and 10.00 ± 22.50 at 4 years follow-up respectively. Baseline MLK score was 4.90 ± 2.12 for patients in CRSsNP group and 10.00 ± 2.00 in the CRSwNP group Both scores were reduced to 1.65 ± 1.67 and 4.86 ± 2.16. The overall mean average LM CT-PNS score was 8.71 ± 4.728 preoperatively for the CRSsNP and 16.18 ± 3.9 in patients with CRSwNP and were reduced to 1.00 ± 1.75 and 8.69 ± 4.6 after BSP. SNOT 22, MLK and LM scores showed consistent improvement over baseline at all time points until the end of the study (median 44.45 ± 14 months). Significant improvements were recorded at all time points in the patient's symptom score, nasal endoscopy scores and imaging scores (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Balloon sinuplasty appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of CRS with great long-term outcomes.