Post-nesting migratory movements of hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata in waters adjacent to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Abstract

The Yucatan Peninsula harbors the largest nesting population of hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata in the Atlantic Basin. In Mexico, one of the most significant conservation problems for this species is the lack of knowledge on migratory patterns and the location of feeding grounds for post-nesting hawksbill females. The main goal of this study was to gather information on the hawksbill's migratory patterns and the location of their feeding grounds by tracking 3 post-nesting females from Campeche state, Mexico. We attached satellite transmitters and tracked the 3 turtles for 166, 446 and 510 d, respectively. The turtles remained within Mexican territorial waters, reaching separate foraging grounds off the coast of Campeche and in the Mexican Caribbean. No significant relationships were observed between turtles' migrating behavior and sea-surface temperature or geostrophic currents. Spatial analysis of the data recorded in this study has generated novel information on hawksbill turtle migratory patterns and feeding grounds, which will aid in decisionmaking for hawksbill turtle conservation in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Spatial ecology of critically endangered hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata: implications for management and conservation

“…However, as has been the case with other hawksbill telemetry studies (e.g. Troëng et al 2005, Cuevas et al 2008, the overwhelming majority of our LCs were categorized as B (87.0%; Table 2). Leaving out these points would have represented the loss of valuable location data, many of which can be as accurate as LCAs (Argos 2008), and this, in turn, would have forced the abandonment of particular analyses (e.g.…”

Inferring vertical and horizontal movements of juvenile marine turtles from time-depth recorders

“…Adult hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata undertake considerable migrations between breeding grounds and subsequent coral reef foraging habitats , Cuevas et al 2008, which are also the foraging habitats of juveniles recruiting from oceanic environments (Musick & Limpus 1997), a process that is accompanied by an ontogenetic dietary shift to predominant spongivory (Meylan 1988, Bjorndal 1997. Hawksbill turtles represent an important predator on sponges in reef systems (Hill 1998, Leon & Bjorndal 2002.…”

Post-nesting movements and feeding grounds of a resident East Pacific green turtle Chelonia mydas population from Costa Rica

“…After nesting in Taiwan, Australia, and Mexico, sea turtles have been reported to stop and forage along the way to their final destination (Cheng 2000, Whiting et al 2007, Cuevas et al 2008. Such browsing behavior may reduce the overall cost of migration and could explain the differences in migration durations for turtles migrating from Nombre de Jesús to the same feeding grounds.…”