Marine animals like whales, sharks, seals, sea turtles and penguins travel vast distances during their migrations. To better understand their movements, scientists often attach satellite tags to track them. However, these tags can be expensive and only provide data while attached to the animal, resulting in significant gaps in location information.

A team of researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other institutions has developed a new method to fill in these gaps and create a more complete picture of marine animal movements. Their work, published in the journal *Scientific Reports*, uses data on ocean currents, sea surface temperature, and other environmental conditions to estimate where an animal might have traveled when its tag was not transmitting data.

"Our method allows us to track animals that we might not be able to track otherwise, and it gives us a more accurate picture of their migratory patterns," said study lead author Dr. Ari Friedlaender, a research scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

To develop the method, Friedlaender and her team used a variety of machine-learning algorithms to analyze data from satellite tags attached to 22 different marine animal species. They found that they could accurately predict the location of animals when their tags were not transmitting data by using environmental data alone.

The researchers say that their method has the potential to improve our understanding of marine animal movements and help in the conservation of these animals. By knowing more about where and when marine animals travel, we can better protect their habitat and reduce the risk of interactions with human activities.

"This is a really powerful tool that can help us learn more about the lives of these amazing animals," said study co-author Dr. Bruce Mate, a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University. "We're excited to see what new discoveries we can make now that we have this method at our disposal."