Foraging habitats and migration corridors utilized by a recovering subpopulation of adult female loggerhead sea turtles: implications for conservation

• Published in: Marine biology Vol. 160; no. 12; pp. 3071 - 3086
• Main Authors: Griffin, DuBose B, Murphy, Sally R, Frick, Michael G, Broderick, Annette C, Coker, John W, Coyne, Michael S, Dodd, Mark G, Godfrey, Matthew H, Godley, Brendan J, Hawkes, Lucy A, Murphy, Thomas M, Williams, Kristina L, Witt, Matthew J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-12-2013; Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: adults; Amphibia. Reptilia; Animal and plant ecology; Animal migration; Animal populations; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Aquatic reptiles; beaches; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Caretta caretta; Coastal zone; coasts; Continental shelves; Distribution; Females; fisheries; foraging; Foraging behavior; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gulf Stream; Habitats; Home range; Life Sciences; Loggerhead turtle; Marine; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Marine biology; Microbiology; Nesting; Oceanography; Original Paper; Reptiles & amphibians; sea turtles; Sea water ecosystems; Synecology; Threatened species; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Wildlife conservation; Zoology; North Carolina; Georgia; Florida; South Carolina; United States; ANW, USA, North Carolina; ASW, USA, Florida; ASW, USA, Georgia; AW, USA, South Atlantic Bight; ASW, USA, Florida, Florida Bay; ANW, USA, North Carolina, Cape Hatteras; ASW, Caribbean Sea, Bahamas; ANW, USA, South Carolina; ANW, USA, Mid-Atlantic Bight; North Carolina; Recovery Unit; Location Class; Gulf Stream; South Carolina; Vertebrata; Feeding behavior; Chelonia; Caretta caretta; Migration; Conservation; Female; Reptilia; Habitat; Foraging behavior
• ISSN: 0025-3162; 1432-1793
• DOI: 10.1007/s00227-013-2296-3

From 1998 to 2008, 68 adult female loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) were instrumented with platform transmitter terminals at nesting beaches in Georgia, North Carolina (NC) and South Carolina (SC) on the East Coast of the United States of America (30°48′N, 81°28′W to 33°51′N, 77°59′W). The majority of post-nesting loggerheads (N = 42, 62 %) migrated to foraging habitats in the Mid-Atlantic Bight during May–October, with a subsequent migration occurring during November–March to foraging habitats south of Cape Hatteras, NC. Nine (13 %) loggerheads initially foraged in the near-shore, coastal areas of the South Atlantic Bight, but moved to offshore habitats—closer to the Gulf Stream—during November–March, while fourteen (21 %) loggerheads remained in foraging areas along the mid-continental shelf off of the eastern coast of Florida and/or continued southward to Florida Bay and the Bahamas. The present study delineates important, post-nesting foraging habitats and migration corridors where loggerheads may interact with commercial fisheries—providing managers opportunities to develop and implement optimally effective conservation actions for the recovery of this threatened species.