THE U.S. ANIMAL TELEMETRY NETWORK (ATN) IS A MULTI-AGENCY PROGRAM HOSTED WITHIN THE NOAA IOOS PROGRAM OFFICE AND IS FUNDED BY THE BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT (BOEM), THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA), AND THE OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH (ONR). THE ATN PROVIDES A MECHANISM TO CREATE ALLIANCES AMONG FEDERAL AND NONFEDERAL, STATE, REGIONAL, TRIBAL, AND ACADEMIC PARTNERS TO MAXIMIZE COLLABORATIONS, MAXIMIZE ACCESS TO TELEMETRY DATA, IMPROVE DATA STANDARDS AND SHARING CAPABILITY, AND TO BRING PERMANENCE TO A U.S. NATIONAL BASELINE TELEMETRY NETWORK. THE MARINE BIODIVERSITY OBSERVATION NETWORK (MBON) IS A GROWING GLOBAL INITIATIVE COMPOSED OF REGIONAL NETWORKS OF SCIENTISTS, RESOURCE MANAGERS, AND END-USERS WORKING TO INTEGRATE DATA FROM EXISTING LONG-TERM PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CHANGES AND CONNECTIONS BETWEEN MARINE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS. MBON PARTNERS IN THE U.S. ARE ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO DEVELOPMENT OF A GLOBAL MBON, WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE GROUP ON EARTH OBSERVATIONS BIODIVERSITY OBSERVATION NETWORK, THE GLOBAL OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM (GOOS), AND THE OCEAN BIOGEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (OBIS). MBON PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ENABLING THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY TO DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BIODIVERSITY, ORGANISM ABUNDANCE, SYSTEM PRODUCTIVITY, AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. THIS PROPOSAL REQUESTS SUPPORT FOR CONVENING ATN AND MBON STAKEHOLDERS ALONG THE U.S. WEST COAST TO IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE STAKEHOLDER NEEDS FOR REGIONAL TELEMETRY AND OTHER TYPES OF OBSERVATIONS OF AQUATIC SPECIES THAT COULD BE SERVED BY AN ANIMAL TELEMETRY NETWORK AND MARINE BIODIVERSITY OBSERVATION NETWORK BASELINE OBSERVING SYSTEMS. WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS WILL EXAMINE WHETHER THE TYPE AND EXTENT OF EXISTING TELEMETRY AND BIODIVERSITY ASSETS COULD ADEQUATELY SATISFY THESE REQUIREMENTS. THE INFORMATION GENERATED AT THE WORKSHOPS WILL BE USED TO IDENTIFY REGIONAL AND NATIONAL OBSERVATION PRIORITIES TO ENSURE THAT BOTH ARE BEING MET AND TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPING A PLAN FOR SUFFICIENT FUNDING OF THE ENVISIONED NATIONAL ATN TAGGING AND MBON PROGRAMS, AND UNDERSTAND HOW INTEGRATION AND COORDINATION OF THESE ASSETS WILL BE ACHIEVED. ATN AND MBON WORKSHOPS DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE NASA SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE, APPLIED SCIENCES AREA, WITH SPECIFIC APPLICATION TO THE ECOLOGICAL FORECASTING APPLICATIONS IN PARTICULAR TO PROVIDE DATA TO VALIDATE HABITAT AND STOCK ASSESSMENT MODELS, IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF LARVAL ECOLOGY, AND ENABLE MORE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF U.S. AND GLOBAL FISHERIES AS WELL AS TO ASSIST IN GENERATING NEAR REAL-TIME PREDICTIONS OF WHALE OCCURRENCE IN THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT THUS SEEKING TO REDUCE WHALE SHIP STRIKES AND ENTANGLEMENTS BY PROVIDING NEAR REAL-TIME PREDICTIONS OF WHALE OCCURRENCE.