Ontogeny of long distance migration

Abstract

Abstract. The movements of some long-distance migrants are driven by innate compass headings that they follow on their first migrations (e.g., some birds and insects), while the movements of other first-time migrants are learned by following more experienced conspecifics (e.g., baleen whales). However, the overall roles of innate, learned, and social behaviors in driving migration goals in many taxa are poorly understood. To look for evidence of whether migration routes are innate or learned for sea turtles, here for 42 sites around the world we compare the migration routes of .400 satellite-tracked adults of multiple species of sea turtle with ;45 000 Lagrangian hatchling turtle drift scenarios. In so doing, we show that the migration routes of adult turtles are strongly related to hatchling drift patterns, implying that adult migration goals are learned through their past experiences dispersing with ocean currents. The diverse migration destinations of adults consistently reflected the diversity in sites they would have encountered as drifting hatchlings. Our findings reveal how a simple mechanism, juvenile passive drift, can explain the ontogeny of some of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom and ensure that adults find suitable foraging sites.

Key Questions in Marine Megafauna Movement Ecology

“…Scale-free patterns of movement suggest that some marine megafauna search for prey probabilistically without prior knowledge of prey distribution [8], but it is likely that they rely on learning and memory to some extent to move and forage efficiently [22,23]. The effects of learning and memory are often inferred from foraging site fidelity, but quantifying those effects remains challenging [16,24].…”

Active dispersal in loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta ) during the ‘lost years’

“…It is now known that oceanic dispersal is a product of passive and active movements [7][8][9][10]. Emerging studies have begun to recognize that even early-stage turtles rely on some level of active swimming to achieve success with long-distance ocean transport [3,5].…”

“…Specifically, they have helped reconstruct timelines between empirical observations of adults with distant reproductive and foraging grounds [15]. Such studies have also given rise to imprint hypotheses (see [5]), which tie the role of passive dispersal in the evolution of active migration routes and habitat preference in later life-history stages [5,9,16].…”

Spatial Distribution and Residency of Green and Loggerhead Sea Turtles Using Coastal Reef Habitats in Southern Mozambique

“…In adult foraging areas it has been proposed that the selection of these sites is influenced by the drift pattern undertaken as hatchlings Scott et al, 2014). As such, the prevailing oceanography around nesting rookeries may be crucial to the selection of foraging areas used by adults (Luschi et al, 2003;Hays et al, 2010).…”