The repeatability of white shark migrations in the north-east Pacific

Long-term animal tracking datasets have enabled new insights into the repeatability of migratory behaviors. However, such studies remain limited in highly migratory elasmobranchs, where oceanic migrations often exceed coastal acoustic receiver array coverage and satellite tag deployments are typically shorter than complete migratory cycles, together precluding observations across multiple years and migration events. We address this knowledge gap using two decades of electronic tagging data from white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in Central California to quantify repeatability in migration timing and coastal site fidelity. Using acoustic telemetry, we tracked 87 individual sub-adult and adult white sharks through two or more offshore migration cycles, revealing substantial individual variation in behavioral consistency, ranging from highly repeatable to highly plastic strategies. Within-individual variance remained consistently lower than among-individual variance for both migration timing and coastal site fidelity, assessed through linear-mixed effect models and co-occurrence analyses, respectively, indicating moderate but measurable repeatability. At the individual level, the capacity for high repeatability was best exemplified by satellite tracking of an adult white shark across two consecutive migrations covering several thousand kilometers, which revealed high spatiotemporal synchronicity despite substantial variation among the five other concurrently tracked individuals. This finding reflects a significant navigational and cognitive capacity for a marine predator moving through vast and dynamic ocean basins with minimal fixed landmarks. Adults exhibited higher repeatability than sub-adults, suggesting that behavioral consistency develops through experiential learning and/or spatial memory development. The coexistence of rigid and plastic behavioral phenotypes within this population may provide resilience to environmental change through bet-hedging strategies, potentially buffering the population against uncertainty in changing ocean conditions.