An evaluation of sea turtle strandings in the Fethiye-Göcek Specially Protected Area: An important foraging ground with an increasing mortality rate

Başkale, Eyup; Sözbilen, Doğan; Katılmış, Yusuf; Azmaz, Musa; Kaska, Yakup

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.01.003

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Stranding and bycatch records in the eastern Mediterranean demonstrate the presence of widespread neritic foraging grounds for both loggerhead and green turtles, predominantly for juveniles, around North Cyprus (Snape et al 2013), Turkey (Başkale et al 2018;Türkozan et al 2018), Israel (Tikochinski et al 2019), Egypt (Clusa et al 2014) and Greece (Corsini-Foka et al 2013). Although yearround strandings and bycatch occur in North Cyprus, the coastline also supports major nesting beaches used by both marine turtle species (Stokes et al 2014;Casale et al 2018), resulting in seasonal peaks of adult strandings and bycatch in summer months (Snape et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary analysis of two sympatric marine turtle species in the eastern Mediterranean

Palmer

Beton²,

Çiçek

et al. 2021

Mar Biol

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Dietary studies provide key insights into threats and changes within ecosystems and subsequent impacts on focal species. Diet is particularly challenging to study within marine environments and therefore is often poorly understood. Here, we examined the diet of stranded and bycaught loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in North Cyprus (35.33° N, 33.47° E) between 2011 and 2019. A total of 129 taxa were recorded in the diet of loggerhead turtles (n = 45), which were predominantly carnivorous (on average 72.1% of dietary biomass), foraging on a large variety of invertebrates, macroalgae, seagrasses and bony fish in low frequencies. Despite this opportunistic foraging strategy, one species was particularly dominant, the sponge Chondrosia reniformis (21.5%). Consumption of this sponge decreased with increasing turtle size. A greater degree of herbivory was found in green turtles (n = 40) which predominantly consumed seagrasses and macroalgae (88.8%) with a total of 101 taxa recorded. The most dominant species was a Lessepsian invasive seagrass, Halophila stipulacea (31.1%). This is the highest percentage recorded for this species in green turtle diet in the Mediterranean thus far. With increasing turtle size, the percentage of seagrass consumed increased with a concomitant decrease in macroalgae. Seagrass was consumed year-round. Omnivory occurred in all green turtle size classes but reduced in larger turtles (> 75 cm CCL) suggesting a slow ontogenetic dietary shift. Macroplastic ingestion was more common in green (31.6% of individuals) than loggerhead turtles (5.7%). This study provides the most complete dietary list for marine turtles in the eastern Mediterranean.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary analysis of two sympatric marine turtle species in the eastern Mediterranean

Palmer

Beton²,

Çiçek

et al. 2021

Mar Biol

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“…increased fishing effort). Notably, an increase in sea turtle strandings in summer was also observed in other areas of the Mediterranean Sea such as the southern (Bellido López et al ., 2018) and eastern Spain (Tomás et al ., 2008), Rhodes Island (Corsini-Foka et al ., 2013), and Turkey (Başkale et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The area south of the Po River delta (Italy) is a hot spot for strandings of loggerhead sea turtles

Marisaldi,

Torresan,

Ferrari

2023

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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The northern Adriatic Sea is an important foraging ground for the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) within the Mediterranean Sea. Here, stranding patterns of loggerhead sea turtles were examined over a four-year period (2019–2022) along a short (17 km) stretch of the Italian coast south of the Po River delta. A total of 355 records (alive, n = 24; dead, n = 331) were analysed, and the curved carapace lengths (CCL, notch to tip, cm) mainly reflected large juveniles and sub-adults (average CCL = 57.2 cm; 95% CI = 55.6–58.7). The month of July was identified as the critical month with the highest number of strandings, mirroring migratory processes towards this area during warmer months. The number of stranded turtles•km−1 as well as the absolute number of strandings along the short stretch of the coast might suggest this area as the most impacted in the Mediterranean Sea. This research emphasizes that human activities in the waters south of the Po River delta, particularly trawl fishing, are the primary cause of loggerhead sea turtle strandings and that tracking stranding patterns can offer valuable information about the geographic ranges, seasonal movements, and life cycles of this species.

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“…Previous studies have shown that male and female loggerhead turtles from western Greece are using Aegean coasts of Turkey as overwintering and foraging areas (Schofield et al, 2010;Patel et al, 2015;Rees et al, 2017). Additionally, stranding data (Türkozan et al, 2013;Başkale et al, 2018a;Türkozan et al, 2018) suggested that Turkey may have important foraging areas for loggerhead turtles. Our results confirmed previous studies suggestions that Turkey has important foraging areas and Köyceğiz-Dalyan SPA is an important area for Mediterranean loggerhead turtles.…”

Section: Loggerhead Turtle Population In the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the downgrading of the threat status for Mediterranean loggerhead turtle, anthropogenic effects such as entanglement in fishing gear (Casale and Margaritoulis 2010;Snape et al, 2013;Başkale et al, 2018a), collision with marine vehicles (Casale and Margaritoulis 2010;Başkale et al, 2018a), macro debris entanglement and plastic ingestion (Tomás et al, 2002;Camedda et al, 2014;Nelms et al, 2015) still remain a significant threat to the Mediterranean loggerhead turtles in marine habitats. Another factor threatening all marine turtle species is global climate change, with marine turtle nesting beaches, coastal and oceanic areas expected to be heavily affected in the future (Hamann et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our knowledge of male and juvenile loggerhead turtle distribution and possible foraging areas in Turkey are mainly limited to stranding data (Kaska et al, 2004;Türkozan et al, 2013;Tonay and Oruç 2016;Başkale et al, 2018a;Sönmez, 2018;Türkozan et al, 2018). In addition to previous stranding reports, loggerhead turtle tracking studies using satellite telemetry suggests that the Aegean and southwest coast of Turkey are used by loggerhead turtles as foraging areas (Schofield et al, 2009;Patel et al, 2015;Rees et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Male-biased in-water population of loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) in Dalyan, Turkey as a possible important marine turtle area in the Mediterranean

2021

Turk J Zool

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In this study, we present the first in-water monitoring results of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in Köyceğiz-Dalyan Specially Protected Area (SPA), Turkey.The Capture, Mark, and Recapture (CMR) study encompassed a total of 113 capture events of 88 individuals across two sampling years. The majority of the population was adults (%88.6) with a highly male-biased (70.5%) sex ratio. Our results indicate that some of the overwintering individuals also contribute to the nesting population in the region. Biometric characteristics of captured individuals were also presented.Additionally, we found the population to be under heavy anthropogenic threats with 54.5% of the captured individuals exhibiting results of previous anthropogenically caused injuries. Our results suggest that Köyceğiz-Dalyan SPA is an important overwintering and foraging area for loggerhead turtles, which is currently an indexed nesting site for loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean. Given the possible feminization 2 effects of climate change on future marine turtle populations, the male-biased population in the study area is of the greatest importance, and together with having an indexed nesting site, the area should therefore be regarded as an important marine turtle area.

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An evaluation of sea turtle strandings in the Fethiye-Göcek Specially Protected Area: An important foraging ground with an increasing mortality rate

Cited by 16 publications

References 33 publications

Dietary analysis of two sympatric marine turtle species in the eastern Mediterranean

Dietary analysis of two sympatric marine turtle species in the eastern Mediterranean

The area south of the Po River delta (Italy) is a hot spot for strandings of loggerhead sea turtles

Male-biased in-water population of loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) in Dalyan, Turkey as a possible important marine turtle area in the Mediterranean

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