Schooling and migration of large pelagic fishes relative to environmental cues

A kinesis model driven by high-resolution sea surface temperature maps is u sed to simulate Atlantic bluefin tuna movements in the Gulf of Maine during summer months. Simulations showed that individuals concentrated in areas o f thermal preference. Results are compared to empirical distribution maps o f bluefin tuna schools determined from aerial overflights of the stock duri ng the same time periods. Simulations and empirical observations showed sim ilar bluefin tuna distributions along fronts, although interannual variatio ns in temperature ranges occupied suggest that additional foraging factors are involved. Performance of the model is further tested by simulating the relatively large-scale annual north-south migrations of bluefin tuna that f ollowed a preferred thermal regime. Despite the model's relatively simple s tructure, results suggest that kinesis is an effective mechanism for descri bing movements of large pelagic fish in the expansive ocean environment.