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Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum? / AMY FISHER

Swansea University Author: AMY FISHER

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Abstract

There is a strong selection pressure for animals to move in a way that maximises efficiency, often incurring minimal costs. By using the Vector of Dynamic Body Acceleration (VeDBA),as a measure of power in relation to vertical velocity, the “Minimum Power” (Pmin) can be calculated by a functional re...

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Published: Swansea, University, Wales, UK 2025
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Master of Research
Degree name: MRes
Supervisor: Wilson, R. P., and Shepard, E. L. C.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69639
first_indexed 2025-06-05T16:01:52Z
last_indexed 2025-06-07T05:10:15Z
id cronfa69639
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2025-06-06T11:26:07.8644967 v2 69639 2025-06-05 Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum? 9e8a54a7b39e2fe5137a68db057ee2aa AMY FISHER AMY FISHER true false 2025-06-05 There is a strong selection pressure for animals to move in a way that maximises efficiency, often incurring minimal costs. By using the Vector of Dynamic Body Acceleration (VeDBA),as a measure of power in relation to vertical velocity, the “Minimum Power” (Pmin) can be calculated by a functional relationship for any speed of an animal in a fluid medium.“Putative Power above Minimum” (PPAmin), is a metric which quantifies how much the power to move exceeds Pmin, indicated by subtracting Pmin from VeDBA. The dynamics of energy expenditure and efficiency of swimming animals are critically dependent on the drag and velocity as major modulators of PPAmin. For 15 whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) tagged with acceleration/depth tags, periods when substantial PPAmin occurred were identified in relation to periods of dive descent, ascent and level swimming, examined with the corresponding body geometry, depth, time of day and swim track tortuosity (a proxy for feeding). Within the whale shark data, incidences of PPAmin during ascents (mean = 0.0161 g ±0.0094 SD) and predominantly when swimming horizontal (0.016 g ±0.021 SD) are suggested to be due to an increase in the drag coefficient by the animal opening its mouth to feed. This effect is magnified by increased surface drag (within 2 m of the water surface). As power usage increases with the cube of swim speed, other high PPAmin values likely correspond to speed increases, principally observed during rapid descents (0.012 g ±0.011 SD). Crucially, PPAmin is suggested to be a due to human interactions. Instances of PPAmin may negatively impact the energy budget of the endangered whale sharks, which is of particular concern for this species working on an energetic “knife-edge”. E-Thesis Swansea, University, Wales, UK Energetics, Behaviour, Whale Shark, Power use, Biologging, Depth, Feeding. 20 3 2025 2025-03-20 A selection of content is redacted or is partially redacted from this thesis to protect sensitive and personal information. COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Wilson, R. P., and Shepard, E. L. C. Master of Research MRes Swansea Lab for Animal Movement (SLAM) Swansea Lab for Animal Movement (SLAM) 2025-06-06T11:26:07.8644967 2025-06-05T16:17:41.1759669 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences AMY FISHER 1 69639__34406__f9deb6b42bce484ba9e39c1bab4987ad.pdf 2024_Fisher_A.final.69639.pdf 2025-06-05T16:27:04.9539679 Output 10604975 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The Author, Amy Fisher, 2024 Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
spellingShingle Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
AMY FISHER
title_short Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
title_full Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
title_fullStr Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
title_full_unstemmed Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
title_sort Judicious Power Use in Whale Sharks (Rhincodon typus); Under What Conditions Do They Employ Power Above Minimum?
author_id_str_mv 9e8a54a7b39e2fe5137a68db057ee2aa
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9e8a54a7b39e2fe5137a68db057ee2aa_***_AMY FISHER
author AMY FISHER
author2 AMY FISHER
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
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description There is a strong selection pressure for animals to move in a way that maximises efficiency, often incurring minimal costs. By using the Vector of Dynamic Body Acceleration (VeDBA),as a measure of power in relation to vertical velocity, the “Minimum Power” (Pmin) can be calculated by a functional relationship for any speed of an animal in a fluid medium.“Putative Power above Minimum” (PPAmin), is a metric which quantifies how much the power to move exceeds Pmin, indicated by subtracting Pmin from VeDBA. The dynamics of energy expenditure and efficiency of swimming animals are critically dependent on the drag and velocity as major modulators of PPAmin. For 15 whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) tagged with acceleration/depth tags, periods when substantial PPAmin occurred were identified in relation to periods of dive descent, ascent and level swimming, examined with the corresponding body geometry, depth, time of day and swim track tortuosity (a proxy for feeding). Within the whale shark data, incidences of PPAmin during ascents (mean = 0.0161 g ±0.0094 SD) and predominantly when swimming horizontal (0.016 g ±0.021 SD) are suggested to be due to an increase in the drag coefficient by the animal opening its mouth to feed. This effect is magnified by increased surface drag (within 2 m of the water surface). As power usage increases with the cube of swim speed, other high PPAmin values likely correspond to speed increases, principally observed during rapid descents (0.012 g ±0.011 SD). Crucially, PPAmin is suggested to be a due to human interactions. Instances of PPAmin may negatively impact the energy budget of the endangered whale sharks, which is of particular concern for this species working on an energetic “knife-edge”.
published_date 2025-03-20T05:27:30Z
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score 11.089572

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