MESO- AND SUBMESOSCALE FEATURES MAKE UP THE INTERNAL WEATHER OF THE OCEAN EXCITING VERTICAL FLUXES AND TRANSPORTING PELAGIC COMMUNITIES HUNDREDS TO THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS. YET WHILE THE APPLICATION OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY NOW ALLOWS US TO VIEW THESE FEATURES IN ALMOST REAL TIME THE INFLUENCE OF THESE STRUCTURES ON PELAGIC PREDATORS REMAINS LARGELY UNKNOWN. WITH THE LATEST SATELLITE TAGGING TECHNOLOGIES WE NOW HAVE THE ABILITY TO OBSERVE THE MOVEMENT OF LARGE OCEANIC PREDATORS IN HIGH-RESOLUTION THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPACE. HERE WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF MESOSCALE EDDIES MEANDERS AND SUBMESOSCALE FRONTS BY PELAGIC PREDATORS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC. WE WILL COLLOCATE TRAJECTORIES OBTAINED FROM SATELLITE-TAGGED SHARKS WITH (SUB)MESOSCALE STRUCTURES IDENTIFIED AND TRACKED IN MAPS OF SEA LEVEL ANOMALIES AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE WHICH WILL IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PELAGIC PREDATORS USE THESE UBIQUITOUS STRUCTURES. FURTHERMORE BY COMPARING OBSERVED PATTERNS OF FEATURE USE BY THE PREDATORS TO SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF OCEAN CURRENTS SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND OCEAN COLOR WE WILL LINK OBSERVED BEHAVIOR TO KNOWN (SUB)MESOSCALE PHYSICAL/BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THUS THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE IS TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF (SUB)MESOSCALE OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES ON THE MOVEMENTS OF PELAGIC PREDATORS THROUGH THE SYNERGISTIC ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL FISH MOVEMENT AND CONCURRENT SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF (SUB)MESOSCALE FEATURES ALLOWING US TO LINK PREDATOR BEHAVIOR TO PHYSICAL/BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS. WE WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: 1. COLLOCATE THE MOVEMENT TRAJECTORIES OF PREDATORS WITH MESOSCALE EDDIES MEANDERS AND SUBMESOSCALE THERMAL FRONTS. 2. COMPARE HOW FIVE SPECIES OF PELAGIC SHARKS (BLUE TIGER OCEANIC WHITETIP MAKO AND WHITE SHARKS) USE (SUB)MESOSCALE OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES ACROSS OCEANOGRAPHIC REGIMES OF THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC. 3. EVALUATE CONCURRENT SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF THE OCEAN ENVIRONMENT WITH SHARK BEHAVIOR TO DIAGNOSE MECHANISTIC DRIVERS OF AND BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES. THE ANTICIPATED RESULTS OF THE WORK PROPOSED HERE WILL HELP INFORM FUTURE EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY AND APPROPRIATELY MANAGE CRITICAL OCEANIC HABITATS USED BY PELAGIC PREDATORS. KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES STRUCTURING PELAGIC ECOSYSTEMS IS NECESSARY FOR A MECHANISTIC AND PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION DYNAMICS OF OCEANIC PREDATORS. ULTIMATELY THE FUTURE OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT RELIES ON A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF PELAGIC PREDATOR MOVEMENTS AND APPROPRIATE HABITAT MODELS COUPLED WITH SYNOPTIC REMOTE SENSING PRODUCTS OF THE HIGH SEAS AND SATELLITE VESSEL TRACKING TO PROVIDE MANAGERS WITH THE DATA TO DYNAMICALLY OPTIMIZE MANAGEMENT BASED ON THE EVER-CHANGING MARINE ENVIRONMENT (E.G. NASA-FUNDED WHALEWATCH). THIS PROPOSED EFFORT ADVANCES NASA RESEARCH OBJECTIVES THROUGH IMPROVING SPACE-BASED PREDICTION OF OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS AND IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CAUSATIVE CONTROLS ON PELAGIC ECOSYSTEMS AT MULTIPLE SCALES. WE SEEK TO LEVERAGE THE UNIQUE CAPABILITIES OF NASA AND SKILLS OF THE PI TO GENERATE KNOWLEDGE DIRECTLY APPLICABLE TO SOCIETAL NEEDS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT OF THE OCEANS AT SCALES RELEVANT TO EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND PLANNED NASA MISSIONS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL TOOLS AND GENERATION OF SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES PROPOSED HERE ARE CRITICAL FOR IMPROVING OUR ABILITY TO INTEGRATE REMOTE SENSING OF OCEAN MOTION WITH FINE-SCALE DATA ON THE MOVEMENT OF MARINE ANIMALS AND DEBRIS. THESE EFFORTS WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT AS SUBMESOSCALE SENSING BECOMES MORE WIDESPREAD (E.G. UPCOMING PACE AND SWOT MISSIONS). THE ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS PROJECT WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOLLOWING PUBLICATION AND WILL OFFER THE COMMUNITY NEW TOOLS WITH WHICH TO ANALYZE MOVEMENT DATA IN THE CONTEXT OF A GROWING SUITE OF REMOTELY SENSED PRODUCTS.