Ocean biological resources play a critical role in the global food supply and economy. Fisheries historically have been a reliable resource, but have declined due to over-exploitation, other anthropogenic impacts, and unexpected ocean regime shifts. To sustain these resources, and to manage the competing impacts brought by new ocean development and environmental change, requires credible scientific information on the global movements, survival, and habitat use of valued marine species, and how all are impacted by environmental variables. Advances in acoustic and satellite telemetry and in management and visualization of large data sets are now making it possible for scientists to acquire this information. In 2008, the creation of a new global acoustic telemetry infrastructure was initiated by the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN). OTN is a worldwide partnership of researchers documenting the movements and survival of valued marine animals and linking them to oceanographic conditions. OTN deployments complement existing efforts by global partners and, through an integrated open-access data warehouse, are creating an affordable new global ocean observing system for marine animal movements. OTN also incorporates an international network of social scientists that work to define the contributions that tracking data can make to policy and management. This symposium focuses on the successes and challenges of OTN and advances in moving knowledge into policy and management actions.