Time-at-depth plots for three <i>Rhincodon typus</i> tagged near Al-Lith in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea that exhibit considerable occupation of deep water.

<p>Depth is indicated on the y-axis and by the length of the colored data column. Time is indicated on the x-axis with each data column representing a day of reported data. Days without a column indicate that no data were received for that day. The percentage of time spent within a given depth range on a given day is indicated by the color of the column (percentage scale indicated on the right-hand axis adjacent to panel C). (A) Platform Terminal Transmission ID 52535, a 3 m shark tagged in April 2010. (B) PTT ID 52571, a 5 m male shark tagged in April 2010. (C) PTT ID 95972, a 4 m female tagged in June 2009. Note variable scale of x-axis.</p

Movements of 47 <i>Rhincodon typus</i> tagged with satellite tags in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea.

<p>(A) Most individuals (n = 39) made basin-scale movements within the southern Red Sea. (B) Three <i>R. typus</i> performed excursions into the northern Red Sea as far as Sharm el-Sheikh. (C) Five sharks departed the Red Sea and moved into the Gulf of Aden and northern Indian Ocean. Green and red diamonds indicate tagging and tag pop-off locations, respectively. Track lines were removed from (A) for clarity. Basemap sources: ESRI, AND, USGS, TANA.</p

Summary information from satellite tag deployments on <i>Rhincodon typus</i> in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea.

<p>Platform terminal transmitter (PTT) number for each tag is shown along with the model of each tag. All tags were manufactured by Wildlife Computers, Inc. (WA, USA). Tag Date = date of tag deployment; Tag Lat/Long = GPS coordinates of tag deployment; Est. Length = the total length (m) of the individual tagged estimated by snorkelers <i>in-situ</i>; Sex = male (M) or female (F) where determination was possible by visual observation of presence or absence of claspers between the pelvic fins, no entry indicates that sex could not be confidently determined; Pop-off Date = date of tag detachment from shark; Pop Lat/Long = GPS coordinates of tag detachment location; Deploy Duration = number of days between tag deployment and detachment; Max Depth = the deepest depth (m) reported by the tag during the deployment; Track Distance = shortest straight-line distance from tag deployment to detachment location (or from tag deployment to final location for SPOT5 tags) without crossing land; <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0103536#pone-0103536-g003" target="_blank">Fig. 3</a> = the corresponding panel of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0103536#pone-0103536-g003" target="_blank">Figure 3</a> in which a given shark’s track is plotted; Geolocation Methods = methods used to reconstruct most likely track for each tagged animal: A = Argos location, B = bathymetric correction, F = Fastloc GPS, R = shark resighted, T = Trackit model.</p

Habitat utilization distribution (UD) aggregated for all 47 whale sharks tagged with pop-up satellite archival transmitting (PSAT) tags in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea in 2009–2011.

<p>Seasons were defined according to lunar calendar. UD is composed of all track locations based on methods indicated in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0103536#pone-0103536-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. The overall distribution indicates core-use areas (warm colors) near Al-Lith in the spring and further offshore and southward through the remaining seasons. Color terminates at 95% UD (peripheral-use areas).</p

Time-at-depth plots for three <i>Rhincodon typus</i> tagged near Al-Lith in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea that exhibit considerable occupation of deep water.

<p>Depth is indicated on the y-axis and by the length of the colored data column. Time is indicated on the x-axis with each data column representing a day of reported data. Days without a column indicate that no data were received for that day. The percentage of time spent within a given depth range on a given day is indicated by the color of the column (percentage scale indicated on the right-hand axis adjacent to panel C). (A) Platform Terminal Transmission ID 52535, a 3 m shark tagged in April 2010. (B) PTT ID 52571, a 5 m male shark tagged in April 2010. (C) PTT ID 95972, a 4 m female tagged in June 2009. Note variable scale of x-axis.</p

Study sites for <i>Rhincodon typus</i> in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea.

<p>(A) Location of the study area within the Red Sea. (B) Locations of 59 satellite tag deployments on juvenile <i>R. typus</i> near Al-Qunfudhah (n = 2) and Al-Lith (n = 57). (C) Detail of tag deployments around Shi’b Habil near Al-Lith (n = 55). Symbol color indicates the year of tag deployment. Basemap sources: ESRI, AND, USGS, TANA.</p

Size frequency histogram of <i>Rhincodon typus</i> individuals of known sex tagged with satellite tags at an aggregation site in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea.

<p>Bars represent the number of individuals estimated to the nearest 50</p

R script - presence/absence function

R script - presence/absence functio

Searching hours

Visual effort. Number of searching hours per 2-week perio

Tagged sharks

Details of tagged sharks: Date of tagging, ecocean ID number, gender and size (m