Deakin University
Browse
hays-leatherbackturtles-2008.pdf (773.58 kB)

Leatherback turtles satellite-tagged in European waters

Download (773.58 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2008-01-01, 00:00 authored by T Doyle, J Houghton, P O'Súilleabháin, V Hobson, F Marnell, J Davenport, Graeme HaysGraeme Hays
The North Atlantic is considered a stronghold for the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle. However, limited information exists regarding the movements of individuals to and from the seas off Europe’s northwesterly fringe, an area where leatherbacks have been historically sighted for the past 200 yr. Here, we used satellite telemetry to record the movements and behaviour of 2 individuals bycaught in fisheries off the southwest coast of Ireland. The turtle T1 (tagged 1 September 2005; female; tracked 375 d) immediately travelled south via Madeira and the Canaries, before residing in West African waters for 3 mo. In spring, T1 migrated north towards Newfoundland where transmissions ceased. T2 (29 June 2006; male; 233 d) travelled south for a short period before spending 66 d west of the Bay of Biscay, an area previously asserted as a high-use area for leatherbacks. This prolonged high latitude summer residence corresponded with a mesoscale feature evident from satellite imagery, with the implication that this turtle had found a rich feeding site. A marked change in dive behaviour was apparent as the turtle exited this feature and provided useful insights on leatherback diving behaviour. T2 headed south in October 2006, and performed the deepest-ever dive recorded by a reptile (1280 m) southwest of Cape Verde. Unlike T1, T2 swam southwest towards Brazil before approaching the major nesting beaches of French Guiana and Surinam. Importantly, these tracks document the movement of leatherbacks from one of the remotest foraging grounds in the North Atlantic.

History

Journal

Endangered species research

Volume

4

Pagination

23 - 31

Publisher

Inter-Research

Location

Oldendorf, Germany

ISSN

1863-5407

eISSN

1613-4796

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2008, Inter-Research

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC