Keywords:In-water videography Cold water foraging Interspecies interactions Intraspecies interactions Baited remote underwater video system (BRUV) This study represents the first documented use of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to actively track sea turtles in situ. From 2008 to 2014, an ROV was deployed to track the at-sea behavior of loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Seventy turtles were tracked, totaling 44.7 h of direct turtle footage. For all attempts, usable video with a turtle retained in view for a minimum of 30 s, was produced at a rate of 43.5% of effort. Turtles were first spotted from the boat, and then when the turtle was within~50 m of the boat, the ROV was deployed to track the turtle for as long as possible. Tracking durations reached up to 426.1 min. Tracked turtles often remained within~10 m of the surface; however loggerheads were tracked to the seafloor on 12 occasions. Turtles were filmed foraging both pelagically and benthically, even though bottom temperatures reached as low as 7.1°C. A range of inter-and intra-species interactions were also captured. Several varieties of fish remained associated with individual turtles for extended periods of time, even during benthic foraging dives. Additionally, a variety of social interactions between loggerheads were documented. Generally these interactions were filmed occurring near the ocean surface. Overall, using the ROV provided great insight into loggerhead at-sea behavior, otherwise unattainable using previously established techniques.

and Fisheries for allowing use of the Louisiana Sea Grant camp and the LDWF camp for lodging and use of the LDWF boat launch during the project. This final report was greatly improved through comments from Dr. Steven Scyphers and Dr. Lesley Baggett.

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