Ana M.M. Sequeira, Ph.D.
- Title
- Research fellow
- Institution
- University of Western Australia
- Country
- Australia
- [email protected]
- Award year
- 2020
Research
Conservation of marine megafauna at a global scale
Conservation of large marine animals, also known as megafauna, is limited by a poor understanding of where they travel and how they use habitats. Most research to date on megafauna—which include whales, sharks, and sea turtles and which can migrate thousands of kilometers—has concentrated on their movements within national exclusive economic zones (EEZs) despite their vast use of the high seas, an area covering as much as two-thirds of the global ocean. The lack of understanding of how marine megafauna use this space is a major gap in knowledge. Ana M.M. Sequeira identified important biodiversity areas and key threats to marine megafauna at a global scale to inform conservation priorities and improve protection of these species throughout EEZs and especially in the high seas.
For this project, Sequeira collaborated with hundreds of researchers to compile available tracking data on the animals and define standards to enable the integration and analysis of the global datasets. She developed computer models and GIS mapping to analyze the datasets and identified critical areas used by marine megafauna species for feeding, breeding, and other essential life history activities. This information reveals the location of megafauna hot spots on the high seas. And by combining these results with available data on threats such as fishing, shipping, pollution, and ocean warming, Sequeira investigated where marine megafauna hot spots and areas of highest threat intensity overlap.
She also identified and classified threats to different species groups to better inform various international bodies now considering conservation on the high seas. This work will advance the long-term conservation of large marine animals by enabling more targeted protection efforts and engaging a global network of ecologists who are already contributing to research and monitoring of these species. Sequeira’s culminating publication in Science can be accessed here.
To learn more about Sequeira, read her bio: https://biology.anu.edu.au/people/ana-m-m-sequeira