Global spatial risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries.

Effective ocean management and the conservation of highly migratory species depend on resolving the overlap between animal movements and distributions, and fishing effort. However, this information is lacking at a global scale. Here we show, using a big-data approach that combines satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and global fishing fleets, that 24% of the mean monthly space used by sharks falls under the footprint of pelagic longline fisheries. Space-use hotspots of commercially valuable sharks and of internationally protected species had the highest overlap with longlines (up to 76% and 64%, respectively), and were also associated with significant increases in fishing effort. We conclude that pelagic sharks have limited spatial refuge from current levels of fishing effort in marine areas beyond national jurisdictions (the high seas). Our results demonstrate an urgent need for conservation and management measures at high-seas hotspots of shark space use, and highlight the potential of simultaneous satellite surveillance of megafauna and fishers as a tool for near-real-time, dynamic management.

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.

Neonatal acuity tool-defined staffing ratios in a tertiary Australian neonatal intensive care unit.

AIMS: There is well-established data linking the adequacy of nurse staffing to patient outcomes. Evidence-based standards for staffing are therefore critical to drive improvements in clinical care. One such evidence-based approach is the use of patient acuity-based tools. The objective of this study is to determine the performance of a neonatal acuity tool in an Australian tertiary neonatal health-care setting, focusing on the classification of patient acuity and nursing:patient staffing ratios compared to current practice. METHODS: Acuity data were collected in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and special care baby unit (SCBU) over a 10-week period in 2023. Patient data were scored in the 16 domains at two time points (prior to morning and evening nursing shift changeover) for all admitted newborns. RESULTS: For ventilated newborns nursed with a nurse:patient staffing ratio of 1:1, 78% of scores were within the L4-high acuity (score ≥ 26) band, with the remaining scores within the L3-high acuity (18-25) band. For newborns on non-invasive respiratory support in NICU staffed 1:1, the proportion scoring within the L4 acuity band was higher in the nasal high-flow group compared to the nasal continuous positive airway pressure group (P = 0.032), an effect not seen for those nursed 1:2 in NICU or for those on nasal high-flow nursed in SCBU either 1:2 or 1:3. CONCLUSION: This study of how a neonatal acuity classification system compares with current nurse:patient staffing allocations in an Australian tertiary NICU, suggests refinements in staffing ratios for specific patient groups on respiratory support are possible.

Novel use of deep neural networks on photographic identification of epaulette sharks (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) across life stages.

Photographic identification (photo ID) is an established method that is used to count animals and track individuals' movements. This method performs well with some species of elasmobranchs (i.e., sharks, skates, and rays) where individuals have distinctive skin patterns. However, the unique skin patterns used for ID must be stable through time to allow re-identification of individuals in future sampling events. More recently, artificial intelligence (AI) models have substantially decreased the labor-intensive process of matching photos in extensive photo ID libraries and increased the reliability of photo ID. Here, photo ID and AI are used for the first time to identify epaulette sharks (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) at different life stages for approximately 2 years. An AI model was developed to assess and compare the reliability of human-classified ID patterns in juvenile and neonate sharks. The model also tested the persistence of unique patterns in adult sharks. Results indicate that immature life stages are unreliable for pattern identification, using both human and AI approaches, due to the plasticity of these subadult growth forms. Mature sharks maintain their patterns through time and can be identified by AI models with approximately 86% accuracy. The approach outlined in this study has the potential of validating the stability of ID patterns through time; however, testing on wild populations and long-term datasets is needed. This study's novel deep neural network development strategy offers a streamlined and accessible framework for generating a reliable model from a small data set, without requiring high-performance computing. Since many photo ID studies commence with limited datasets and resources, this AI model presents practical solutions to such constraints. Overall, this approach has the potential to address challenges associated with long-term photo ID data sets and the application of AI for shark identification.

Scaling of Activity Space in Marine Organisms across Latitudinal Gradients.

AbstractUnifying models have shown that the amount of space used by animals (e.g., activity space, home range) scales allometrically with body mass for terrestrial taxa; however, such relationships are far less clear for marine species. We compiled movement data from 1,596 individuals across 79 taxa collected using a continental passive acoustic telemetry network of acoustic receivers to assess allometric scaling of activity space. We found that ectothermic marine taxa do exhibit allometric scaling for activity space, with an overall scaling exponent of 0.64. However, body mass alone explained only 35% of the variation, with the remaining variation best explained by trophic position for teleosts and latitude for sharks, rays, and marine reptiles. Taxon-specific allometric relationships highlighted weaker scaling exponents among teleost fish species (0.07) than sharks (0.96), rays (0.55), and marine reptiles (0.57). The allometric scaling relationship and scaling exponents for the marine taxonomic groups examined were lower than those reported from studies that had collated both marine and terrestrial species data derived using various tracking methods. We propose that these disparities arise because previous work integrated summarized data across many studies that used differing methods for collecting and quantifying activity space, introducing considerable uncertainty into slope estimates. Our findings highlight the benefit of using large-scale, coordinated animal biotelemetry networks to address cross-taxa evolutionary and ecological questions.

Use of Ripple mapping to enhance localization and ablation of outflow tract premature ventricular contractions.

INTRODUCTION: Accurate localization of septal outflow tract premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) is often difficult due to frequent mid-myocardial or protected origin. Compared with traditional activation mapping, CARTO Ripple mapping provides visualization of all captured electrogram data without assignment of a specific local activation time and thus may enhance PVC localization. METHODS: Electroanatomic maps for consecutive catheter ablation procedures for septal outflow tract PVCs (July 2018-December 2020) were analyzed. For each PVC, we identified the earliest local activation point (EA), defined by the point of maximal -dV/dt in a simultaneously recorded unipolar electrogram, and the earliest Ripple signal (ERS), defined as the earliest point at which three grouped simultaneous Ripple bars appeared in late diastole. Immediate success was defined as full suppression of the clinical PVC. RESULTS: Fifty-seven unique PVCs in 55 procedures were included. When ERS and EA were in the same chamber (RV, LV, or CS), the odds ratio for the successful procedure was 13.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.2-79.9, p = .005). Discordance between sites was associated with a higher likelihood of needing multi-site ablation (odds ratio [OR] 7.9 [1.4-4.6; p = .020]). Median EA-ERS distance in successful versus unsuccessful cases was 4.6 mm (interquartile range 2.9-8.5) versus 12.5 mm (7.8-18.5); (p = .020). CONCLUSION: Greater EA-ERS concordance was associated with higher odds of single-site PVC suppression and successful septal outflow tract PVC ablation. Visualization of complex signals via automated Ripple mapping may offer rapid localization information complementary to local activation mapping for PVCs of mid-myocardial origin.

What Darwin could not see: island formation and historical sea levels shape genetic divergence and island biogeography in a coastal marine species.

Oceanic islands play a central role in the study of evolution and island biogeography. The Galapagos Islands are one of the most studied oceanic archipelagos but research has almost exclusively focused on terrestrial organisms compared to marine species. Here we used the Galapagos bullhead shark (Heterodontus quoyi) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to examine evolutionary processes and their consequences for genetic divergence and island biogeography in a shallow-water marine species without larval dispersal. The sequential separation of individual islands from a central island cluster gradually established different ocean depths between islands that pose barriers to dispersal in H. quoyi. Isolation by resistance analysis suggested that ocean bathymetry and historical sea level fluctuations modified genetic connectivity. These processes resulted in at least three genetic clusters that exhibit low genetic diversity and effective population sizes that scale with island size and the level of geographic isolation. Our results exemplify that island formation and climatic cycles shape genetic divergence and biogeography of coastal marine organisms with limited dispersal comparable to terrestrial taxa. Because similar scenarios exist in oceanic islands around the globe our research provides a new perspective on marine evolution and biogeography with implications for the conservation of island biodiversity.

Possible range extension in the endangered and understudied winghead shark (Eusphyra blochii).

Here the authors report on a possible range extension in the rare and understudied winghead shark (Eusphyra blochii). A specimen was captured by recreational fishermen in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, c. 800 km south of its current distribution. As winghead sharks show a clumped distribution in Australia associated with river outflow, Moreton Bay, with its large catchment area, may represent a suitable habitat for the species and previous occurrence may have gone undetected. Alternatively, climate change may have caused a recent southward shift in winghead sharks, as observed in other elasmobranch species along Australia's East Coast.

Forecasting intraspecific changes in distribution of a wide-ranging marine predator under climate change.

Globally, marine animal distributions are shifting in response to a changing climate. These shifts are usually considered at the species level, but individuals are likely to differ in how they respond to the changing conditions. Here, we investigate how movement behaviour and, therefore, redistribution, would differ by sex and maturation class in a wide-ranging marine predator. We tracked 115 tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) from 2002 to 2020 and forecast class-specific distributions through to 2030, including environmental factors and predicted occurrence of potential prey. Generalised Linear and Additive Models revealed that water temperature change, particularly at higher latitudes, was the factor most associated with shark movements. Females dispersed southwards during periods of warming temperatures, and while juvenile females preferred a narrow thermal range between 22 and 23 °C, adult female and juvenile male presence was correlated with either lower (< 22 °C) or higher (> 23 °C) temperatures. During La Niña, sharks moved towards higher latitudes and used shallower isobaths. Inclusion of predicted distribution of their putative prey significantly improved projections of suitable habitats for all shark classes, compared to simpler models using temperature alone. Tiger shark range off the east coast of Australia is predicted to extend ~ 3.5° south towards the east coast of Tasmania, particularly for juvenile males. Our framework highlights the importance of combining long-term movement data with multi-factor habitat projections to identify heterogeneity within species when predicting consequences of climate change. Recognising intraspecific variability will improve conservation and management strategies and help anticipate broader ecosystem consequences of species redistribution due to ocean warming.

The power of national acoustic tracking networks to assess the impacts of human activity on marine organisms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 restrictions have led to an unprecedented global hiatus in anthropogenic activities, providing a unique opportunity to assess human impact on biological systems. Here, we describe how a national network of acoustic tracking receivers can be leveraged to assess the effects of human activity on animal movement and space use during such global disruptions. We outline variation in restrictions on human activity across Australian states and describe four mechanisms affecting human interactions with the marine environment: 1) reduction in economy and trade changing shipping traffic; 2) changes in export markets affecting commercial fisheries; 3) alterations in recreational activities; and 4) decline in tourism. We develop a roadmap for the analysis of acoustic tracking data across various scales using Australia's national Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) Animal Tracking Facility as a case study. We illustrate the benefit of sustained observing systems and monitoring programs by assessing how a 51-day break in white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) cage-diving tourism due to COVID-19 restrictions affected the behaviour and space use of two resident species. This cessation of tourism activities represents the longest break since cage-diving vessels started day trips in this area in 2007. Long-term monitoring of the local environment reveals that the activity space of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) was reduced when cage-diving boats were absent compared to periods following standard tourism operations. However, white shark residency and movements were not affected. Our roadmap is globally applicable and will assist researchers in designing studies to assess how anthropogenic activities can impact animal movement and distributions during regional, short-term through to major, unexpected disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.

The geographic distribution of reef and oceanic manta rays (Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris) in Australian coastal waters.

The known distribution of manta rays in Australian waters is patchy, with records primarily centred around tourism hotspots. We collated 11,614 records of Mobula alfredi from photo-ID databases (n = 10,715), aerial surveys (n = 378) and online reports (n = 521). The study confirms an uninterrupted coastal distribution from north of 26°S and 31°S on the west and east coasts, respectively. More southerly M. alfredi records relate to warm-water events with a southernmost extent at 34°S. Coastal sightings of Mobula birostris were rare (n = 32), likely reflecting a preference for offshore waters, but encompass a wider latitudinal extent than M. alfredi of 10-40°S.

Predicting atrial fibrillation recurrence after ablation in patients with heart failure: Validity of the APPLE and CAAP-AF risk scoring systems.

BACKGROUND: Compared with medical therapy, catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with heart failure (HF) improves cardiovascular outcomes. Risk scores (CAAP-AF and APPLE) have been developed to predict the likelihood of AF recurrence after ablation, have not been validated specifically in patients with AF and HF. METHODS: We analyzed baseline characteristics, risk scores, and rates of AF recurrence 12 months postablation in a cohort of 230 consecutive patients with AF and HF undergoing PVI in the Duke Center for Atrial Fibrillation registry from 2009-2013. RESULTS: During a follow-up period of 12 months, 76 of 230 (33%) patients with HF experienced recurrent AF after ablation. The median APPLE and CAAP-AF scores were 1.5 ([Q1, Q3]: [1.0, 2.0]) and 4.0 ([Q1, Q3]: [3.0, 5.0]), respectively and were not different from those patients with and without recurrent AF. Freedom from AF was not different according to APPLE and CAAP-AF scores. Discrimination for recurrent AF with the CAAP-AF score was modest with a C-statistic of 0.60 (95% CI 0.52-0.67). Discrimination with the APPLE score was similarly modest, with a C-statistic of 0.54 (95% CI: 0.47-0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Validated predictive risk scores for recurrent AF after catheter ablation exhibit limited predictive ability in cohorts of AF and HF. Additional tools are needed to facilitate risk stratification and patient selection for AF ablation in patients with concomitant HF.

Combining abundance and performance data reveals how temperature regulates coastal occurrences and activity of a roaming apex predator.

The redistribution of species has emerged as one of the most pervasive impacts of anthropogenic climate warming, and presents many societal challenges. Understanding how temperature regulates species distributions is particularly important for mobile marine fauna such as sharks given their seemingly rapid responses to warming, and the socio-political implications of human encounters with some dangerous species. The predictability of species distributions can potentially be improved by accounting for temperature's influence on performance, an elusive relationship for most large animals. We combined multi-decadal catch data and bio-logging to show that coastal abundance and swimming performance of tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier are both highest at ~22°C, suggesting thermal constraints on performance may regulate this species' distribution. Tiger sharks are responsible for a large proportion of shark bites on humans, and a focus of controversial control measures in several countries. The combination of distribution and performance data moves towards a mechanistic understanding of tiger shark's thermal niche, and delivers a simple yet powerful indicator for predicting the location and timing of their occurrences throughout coastlines. For example, tiger sharks are mostly caught at Australia's popular New South Wales beaches (i.e. near Sydney) in the warmest months, but our data suggest similar abundances will occur in winter and summer if annual sea surface temperatures increase by a further 1-2°C.

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with increased rotor burden in patients undergoing focal impulse and rotor modification guided atrial fibrillation ablation.

Aims: To assess whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was associated with increased rotor burden among atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Methods and results: We studied 33 consecutive patients who were scheduled for focal impulse and rotor modulation (FIRM) ablation at our institution to describe the mapping, ablation, and outcomes, among patients with and without OSA. Patients underwent biatrial FIRM mapping in AF with ablation of stable rotors in addition to conventional ablation lesion sets. Differences between groups were tested with student's t-tests and Fisher's exact tests, as appropriate. Survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Twelve of the 33 (36%) patients had OSA and 8 (66%) used continuous positive airway pressure ventilation (CPAP). Obstructive sleep apnea patients had a higher body mass index (BMI) (33.6 vs. 28.8 kg/m2, P = 0.01) and were more commonly on beta blockers (67% vs. 29%, P = 0.03) but were otherwise similar regarding baseline characteristics, medication use, and prior AF treatments, including antiarrhythmic drugs and prior ablation. Focal impulse and rotor modulation mapping demonstrated increased rotor burden in the OSA patients (2.6 ± 0.9 vs. 2.0 ± 1.0, P =0.03). The increased rotor burden was more evident in the right atrium (RA) (1.0 ± 0.7 vs. 0.5 ± 0.7, P =0.04 compared with left atrium (1.7 ± 0.8 vs. 1.4 ± 0.7, P = 0.15). There was no correlation between BMI and total number of rotors (r = 0.0961, P = 0.59). Among the population of patients with OSA, CPAP therapy was associated with a lower number of RA rotors (0.8 ± 0.7 vs. 1.5 ± 0.6, P = 0.05) but no significant difference in overall rotors (P = 0.33). Conclusion: Obstructive sleep apnea patients demonstrate increased rotor prevalence, driven predominantly by an increase in RA rotors. CPAP therapy was associated with fewer RA rotors.

Ranolazine reduces atrial fibrillatory wave frequency.

AIMS: Antiarrhythmic medications for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) have limited efficacy and rare but potentially life-threatening side effects. Ranolazine is an antianginal agent that may have antiarrhythmic activity in AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the Duke Enterprise Data Unified Content Explorer database, we analysed a cohort of AF patients on ranolazine. Patients served as their own historic control. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were analysed before and after ranolazine initiation to determine the effect of ranolazine on dominant frequency (DF), f-wave amplitude, and organizational index (OI). We identified 15 patients with ECGs in AF before and after ranolazine. Ranolazine was associated with lower DF by an average of 10% (5.10 ± 0.74 vs. 5.79 ± 0.96 Hz, P = 0.04) but not with changes in OI (0.47 ± 0.11 vs. 0.50 ± 0.12, P = 0.71) or amplitude (0.47 ± 0.43 vs. 0.41 ± 0.40 mV, P = 0.82). Ranolazine was also associated with lower DF in patients (n = 10) not on concomitant antiarrhythmic therapy (5.25 ± 0.78 vs. 6.03 ± 0.79 Hz, P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Ranolazine is associated with lower AF DF but no change in OI or fibrillatory wave amplitude. Prospective trials are needed to evaluate ranolazine's potential as a novel antiarrhythmic drug for AF.

Integrating acoustic telemetry into mark-recapture models to improve the precision of apparent survival and abundance estimates.

Capture-mark-recapture models are useful tools for estimating demographic parameters but often result in low precision when recapture rates are low. Low recapture rates are typical in many study systems including fishing-based studies. Incorporating auxiliary data into the models can improve precision and in some cases enable parameter estimation. Here, we present a novel application of acoustic telemetry for the estimation of apparent survival and abundance within capture-mark-recapture analysis using open population models. Our case study is based on simultaneously collecting longline fishing and acoustic telemetry data for a large mobile apex predator, the broadnose sevengill shark (Notorhynchus cepedianus), at a coastal site in Tasmania, Australia. Cormack-Jolly-Seber models showed that longline data alone had very low recapture rates while acoustic telemetry data for the same time period resulted in at least tenfold higher recapture rates. The apparent survival estimates were similar for the two datasets but the acoustic telemetry data showed much greater precision and enabled apparent survival parameter estimation for one dataset, which was inestimable using fishing data alone. Combined acoustic telemetry and longline data were incorporated into Jolly-Seber models using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. Abundance estimates were comparable to those with longline data only; however, the inclusion of acoustic telemetry data increased precision in the estimates. We conclude that acoustic telemetry is a useful tool for incorporating in capture-mark-recapture studies in the marine environment. Future studies should consider the application of acoustic telemetry within this framework when setting up the study design and sampling program.