Spatial Ecology of Marine Turtles in the Eastern Atlantic 
PI: Michael Coyne, Duke University
Brendan Godley, University of Exeter
Patrick Halpin, Duke University
Mike Fedak, St. Andrews University
Project Description:
Through an integration of satellite tracking, remote sensing, modeling and novel informatics we will investigate a series of questions:
- What are the migratory and four-dimensional (X,Y,Z,T) foraging strategies undertaken by the study species?
- How are these strategies influenced by oceanographic conditions?
- What are the oceanographic conditions that serve as habitat for the study species?
- How can this knowledge be used to mitigate interaction with commercial fisheries?
In tandem, we aspire to contribute significantly to capacity within the LPRC and the wider animal tracking field through our use, development and promotion of the Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool:
- All data will be stored in an effective clearing-house where it will be available for future intra and cross-taxa analysis.
- All appropriate data management and analytical techniques developed during the course of this project will be incorporated into STAT for use by other investigators, which currently include over 60 projects and 1000 tags.
- Selected tracks available through the online tracking interface of STAT will help promote the work of this project at the LPRC.
Progress thru 10/31/2006:
During the first six months we planned to deploy satellite tags on 10 loggerhead sea turtles at Boa Vista, Cape Verde Islands.
By leveraging other funds we were able to tag 12 loggerheads on Boa Vista during August 2006. Combined with 13 turtles tagged
previously during 2004 and 2005, we now have data from a total of 25 Cape Verdean loggerhead turtles.
All tags and materials have been purchased in preparation for deployment of 10 satellite tags on leatherback turtles in Gabon during January 2007. In addition, we have established collaboration with the Trans-Atlantic Leatherback Conservation Initiative (TALCIN) who are also tracking leatherback sea turtles in Gabon as well as Uruguay .. Through these collaborative efforts we hope to increase the amount of data available for analyses and reduce the chance for duplicative effort.
We have begun archiving and processing oceanographic data necessary for integration with animal movement data. All location data collected to date have been sampled for a broad suite of coincident oceanographic data (e.g. bathymetry and sea surface temperature, chlorophyll, height, currents).
PRELIMINARY DATA:
Twelve turtles tagged during August 2006. Four with SMRU SRDL tags and 8 with Sirtrack Kiwisat 101 tags. Previous studies have
suggested that the loggerhead population at Boa Vista displayed phenotypically linked foraging behavior, with larger adults feeding
neritically on the coastal shelf and smaller adults feeding pelagically. To this end we aimed to tag a wide distribution of
adult-sized animals to further test this finding and possibly identify the critical size separating the two foraging modes. We were
able to tag animals ranging in size from 74.5 to 103 cm CCL. Preliminary results from this year mostly support previous finding with
one exception. A relatively small turtle (68124 Fogo, 82.5 cm CCL) appears to be feeding neritically. All other individuals 90 cm CCL
and smaller appear to be feeding pelagically.
These early results have important management and conservation implications, as multiple strategies will be needed to protect the entire adult population because they are utilizing two completely different habitats (see two map attachments referenced in section 8 below).
Spatial analyses with oceanographic data are in progress.
Table. Release date and summary data for twelve loggerhead sea turtles tag and released at Boa Vista, Cape Verde Islands, as of
14 November 2006.
PLANS FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS TO YEAR:
During the next six months we plan to:
- Continue our ecological analysis of data coming in from Cape Verde loggerheads.
- Deploy 10 satellite tags on leatherback sea turtles in Gabon .
- Begin aggregation and evaluation of oceanographic datasets.
- Evaluate modeling techniques to establish relationship between sea turtle movements and oceanographic conditions.
- Present preliminary results on aspects of this work at the 27 th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium to be held during 24-28 February 2007 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina .
PUBLICATIONS:
Hawkes LA, Broderick AC, Coyne MS, Godfrey MS, Lopez-Jurado LF, Lopez-Suarez P, Merino SE, Varo-Cruz N, Godley BJ. 2006.
Phenotypically linked dichotomy in sea turtle foraging requires multiple conservation approaches. Current Biology 16: 990-995.
Retrive the Article (PDF)
CONFERENCES:
a) An Atlantic Loggerhead meeting is being planned for 2007 in conjunction with project collaborators to be held on Boa Vista,
Cape Verde Islands . This work will be a major focus of the workshop.
b) Preliminary results of this work will be disseminated at the 27 th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium to be help during February 2007.
OUTREACH ACTIVITIES:
The tracks of turtles in the Cape Verde project have been available on the seaturtle.org website since their release.
The site has been used for both public education and outreach purposes and to inform other investigators of opportunities
for potential collaboration. All maps on the site are updated daily in near-real-time.
http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=162
Duke University Nicholas School website: New grant will help Nicholas School researchers uncover migratory mysteries of endangered sea turtles - http://www.env.duke.edu/news/ns-coyneturtle.html
dukeenvironment Magazine Fall 2006: New Grant Will Help Nicholas School Researchers Uncover Migratory Mysteries of Endangered Sea Turtles - http://www.env.duke.edu/dukenvironment/f06/log.html
Loggerhead turtles: at loggerheads with the fishing industry - The Why Files - 25 May 2006
http://whyfiles.org/shorties/203turtle_migr/
Satellite Tracking Reveals Migratory Mysteries Of Atlantic Loggerhead Turtles - TerraDaily - 24 May 2006
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Satellite_Tracking_Reveals_Migratory_Mysteries_Of_Atlantic_Loggerhead_Turtles.html
How satellite tracking revealed the migratory mysteries of endangered Atlantic loggerhead turtles - Travel Video Television News - 23 May 2006 http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=8798_0_1_0_M40
Amazing odyssey of the loggerhead turtle - Telegraph , UK - 23 May 2006 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/23/wturtle23.xml
Satellites reveal marine turtles' migrations - afrol News - 23 May 2006 http://www.afrol.com/articles/19368
A dichotomy in migration patterns found for sea turtles in east Atlantic - EurekaAlert! - 22 May 2006 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/cp-adi051706.php
