Identification of likely foraging habitat of pelagic loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the North Atlantic through analysis of telemetry track sinuosity

McCarthy, Abigail L.; Heppell, Selina S.; Royer, François; Freitas, Carla; Dellinger, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2010.04.009

Cited by 38 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Changes in path straightness have been used to identify purported search behavior associated with foraging in leatherbacks [25], as well as other marine predators [67]–[69]. Density plots of the environmental data showed that logarithmic transformation was required for SST gradient, chl a , chl a gradient and bathymetry.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leatherback Turtle Movements, Dive Behavior, and Habitat Characteristics in Ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Dodge

Galuardi²,

Miller³

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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Leatherback sea turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, are highly migratory predators that feed exclusively on gelatinous zooplankton, thus playing a unique role in coastal and pelagic food webs. From 2007 to 2010, we used satellite telemetry to monitor the movements and dive behavior of nine adult and eleven subadult leatherbacks captured on the Northeast USA shelf and tracked throughout the Northwest Atlantic. Leatherback movements and environmental associations varied by oceanographic region, with slow, sinuous, area-restricted search behavior and shorter, shallower dives occurring in cool (median sea surface temperature: 18.4°C), productive (median chlorophyll a: 0.80 mg m−3), shallow (median bathymetry: 57 m) shelf habitat with strong sea surface temperature gradients (median SST gradient: 0.23°C km−1) at temperate latitudes. Leatherbacks were highly aggregated in temperate shelf and slope waters during summer, early fall, and late spring and more widely dispersed in subtropical and tropical oceanic and neritic habitat during late fall, winter and early spring. We investigated the relationship of ecoregion, satellite-derived surface chlorophyll, satellite-derived sea surface temperature, SST gradient, chlorophyll gradient and bathymetry with leatherback search behavior using generalized linear mixed-effects models. The most well supported model showed that differences in leatherback search behavior were best explained by ecoregion and regional differences in bathymetry and SST. Within the Northwest Atlantic Shelves region, leatherbacks increased path sinuosity (i.e., looping movements) with increasing SST, but this relationship reversed within the Gulf Stream region. Leatherbacks increased path sinuosity with decreasing water depth in temperate and tropical shelf habitats. This relationship is consistent with increasing epipelagic gelatinous zooplankton biomass with decreasing water depth, and bathymetry may be a key feature in identifying leatherback foraging habitat in neritic regions. High-use habitat for leatherbacks in our study occurred in coastal waters of the North American eastern seaboard and eastern Caribbean, putting turtles at heightened risk from land- and ocean-based human activity.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leatherback Turtle Movements, Dive Behavior, and Habitat Characteristics in Ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Dodge

Galuardi²,

Miller³

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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“…Sufficient empirical evidence for confident conclusions about surface-pelagic distribution and ecology as juveniles is available for only 1 species, the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta. Loggerhead juveniles have been directly sampled in situ, including captures of post-hatchlings off nesting beaches (Witherington 2002) and captures of large juveniles (mostly 150 to 550 mm straight carapace length, SCL) foraging in the open sea (Carr 1986, Bolten 2003b, McCarthy et al 2010. These studies have provided empirical information on behavior, habitat associations, and diet specific to an occupied habitat.…”

Section: Sea Turtles' Lost Year(s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies have provided empirical information on behavior, habitat associations, and diet specific to an occupied habitat. For the largest surface-pelagic juvenile loggerheads (500 to 700 mm SCL), researchers have used satellite telemetry and remote sensing to identify coarse features of habitat traversed by turtles in the Central Pacific , Howell et al 2008 and in the eastern North Atlantic (Bolten 2003b, McCarthy et al 2010.…”

Section: Sea Turtles' Lost Year(s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Young sea turtles of the pelagic Sargassum-dominated drift community: habitat use, population density, and threats

Witherington¹,

Hirama²,

Hardy³

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

201

183

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“…3A,B); the 60 day mean sea surface temperatures experienced by virtual turtles was suitable for loggerheads (>14°C) in all simulations. Additionally, evidence exists that juvenile loggerheads near the islands of the Azores and Madeira spend extended periods in the Canary Current System and even make seasonal migrations north and south within it (McCarthy et al, 2010). The eastern Atlantic is highly productive , suggesting that it is a favorable foraging area for young, pelagic loggerheads.…”

Section: Non-oriented Swimming Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic navigation behavior and the oceanic ecology of young loggerhead sea turtles

Putman

Verley

Endres

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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During long-distance migrations, animals navigate using a variety of sensory cues, mechanisms and strategies. Although guidance mechanisms are usually studied under controlled laboratory conditions, such methods seldom allow for navigation behavior to be examined in an environmental context. Similarly, although realistic environmental models are often used to investigate the ecological implications of animal movement, explicit consideration of navigation mechanisms in such models is rare. Here, we used an interdisciplinary approach in which we first conducted lab-based experiments to determine how hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) respond to magnetic fields that exist at five widely separated locations along their migratory route, and then studied the consequences of the observed behavior by simulating it within an ocean circulation model. Magnetic fields associated with two geographic regions that pose risks to young turtles (due to cold wintertime temperatures or potential displacement from the migratory route) elicited oriented swimming, whereas fields from three locations where surface currents and temperature pose no such risk did not. Additionally, at locations with fields that elicited oriented swimming, simulations indicate that the observed behavior greatly increases the likelihood of turtles advancing along the migratory pathway. Our findings suggest that the magnetic navigation behavior of sea turtles is intimately tied to their oceanic ecology and is shaped by a complex interplay between ocean circulation and geomagnetic dynamics.

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Identification of likely foraging habitat of pelagic loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the North Atlantic through analysis of telemetry track sinuosity

Cited by 38 publications

References 39 publications

Leatherback Turtle Movements, Dive Behavior, and Habitat Characteristics in Ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Leatherback Turtle Movements, Dive Behavior, and Habitat Characteristics in Ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Young sea turtles of the pelagic Sargassum-dominated drift community: habitat use, population density, and threats

Magnetic navigation behavior and the oceanic ecology of young loggerhead sea turtles

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