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Long-term satellite telemetry of the movements and habitat utilisation by green turtles in the Mediterranean

journal contribution
posted on 2002-06-01, 00:00 authored by B Godley, S Richardson, A Broderick, M Coyne, F Glen, Graeme HaysGraeme Hays
There is a relative paucity of data regarding the at-sea distribution and behaviour of marine turtles. This is especially true for the critically endangered green turtle Chelonia mydas population in the Mediterranean. Six adult female green turtles were equipped with satellite transmitters and tracked for periods of between 28 and 293 d following their final nesting of the season in northern Cyprus. Data elucidated hitherto unknown migratory pathways and highlighted the importance of North African coastal waters as feeding habitat for adults of this species. For three individuals, instruments transmitted detailed information on dive depth, dive duration and water temperature which afforded novel insights into behaviour during different stages of migration, feeding in the foraging grounds and most remarkably, during a period of midwinter diapause when water temperatures were generally below 25°C. Turtles showed fidelity to specific shallow inshore feeding areas and moved offshore to deeper wintering sites.

History

Journal

Ecography

Volume

25

Issue

3

Pagination

352 - 362

Publisher

Wiley

Location

London, England

ISSN

0906-7590

eISSN

1600-0587

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2002, Wiley