Pelagic Filter Feeding Megafauna Literature Review

Instructors instructions: For this assignment, you will conduct a literature review in support of my ongoing research. I will post some suggestions of useful search terms that you may use inside a google scholar search or library search. All sources described in the paper should be more recent than 2015 (coincidentally the year of my daughter’s birth).You should summarize current research and describe it in such a way that you are demonstrating one of the course learning objectives, specifically to “characterize an organism’s proximal/ecological response to its environment in contrast to its ultimate/adaptive response through evolution.” The key theme is diving behavior of pelagic filter-feeding megafauna, which includes organisms such as whale sharks, basking sharks, and manta rays. However other pelagic species that exhibit deep diving behavior (> 200 m) are also of interest so if tunas, sharks, sperm whales, or other mammals interest you then they can be your focal species. I am also interested in the ecological association with the “sound-scattering layer” or “deep scattering layer.” I may also be interesting to compare multiple species in the same body of water, or the same species in multiple bodies of water. You are free to get creative and let your own curiosity guide your research.    Like any collegiate paper, use proper citations (APA style), and should include a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles.  Word count: 1600- 2000 words (not including literature cited section, 12 pt font, 1.5 spaced). -Your literature review should be so through that I get a solid understanding of the papers you are describing AND your connection to how this research pertains to our course objectives. The paper should not only have excessive quotations directly from articles, where you were just citing chunks of information rather than synthesizing it!! Instructors on going research:  A manuscript from my whale shark research has been provisionally accepted!  This ties in directly with the literature review, however this is NOT one of the articles that you can include. You must review 5 peer-reviewed journals published since 2015.   The publication in which I am a co-author is titled:  1- Seasonal occurrence, horizontal movements, and habitat use patterns of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the Gulf of Mexico  (Links to an external site.)  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.598515/abstract 2- and is part of a special journal research topic titled:  Movement and Connectivity of Large Pelagic Sharks  (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/13130/movement-and-connectivity-of-large-pelagic-sharks#articles)