Novel Microsatellite Tags Hold Promise for Illuminating the Lost Years in Four Sea Turtle Species

Abstract

After hatching, sea turtles leave the nest and disperse into the ocean. Many years later, they return to their natal coastlines. The period between their leaving and their returning to natal areas, known as the “Lost Years”, is poorly understood. Satellite tracking studies aimed at studying the “Lost Years” are challenging due to the small size and prolonged dispersal phases of young individuals. Here, we summarize preliminary findings about the performance of prototype microsatellite tags deployed over a three-year period on 160 neonate to small juvenile sea turtles from four species released in the North Atlantic Ocean. We provide an overview of results analyzing tag performance with metrics to investigate transmission characteristics and causes of tag failure. Our results reveal that, despite certain unfavorable transmission features, overall tag performance was satisfactory. However, most track durations were shorter than those observed on individuals of similar size in other studies and did not allow for detailed analyses of trajectories and turtle behavior. Our study further suggests that tracking durations are correlated with the targeted species, highlighting a lack of robustness against some neritic behaviors. Unprecedented diving data obtained for neonate sea turtles in this study suggest that the vertical behaviors of early juveniles are already too strenuous for these miniaturized tags. Our findings will help to inform the biologging research community, showcasing recent technological advances for the species and life stages within our study.