Body temperatures of leatherback sea turtles during the internesting interval

Southwood, Amanda; Andrews, Russel D.; Paladino, Frank V.; Jones, David R.

doi:10.1016/s1095-6433(99)90083-1

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The leatherback has the greatest distribution of any reptile, ranging from tropical to arctic waters. Body temperatures of leatherbacks that have emerged for nesting (Mrosovsky 1980) and those swimming offshore during their internesting interval (Southwood et al 1999) have revealed that temperatures as high as 30°C or even greater can be reached. In these studies a variety of methods were used, including recording the temperature of eggs immediately after they were extruded, cloacal temperature, and subcarapacial implants of thermistors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Body temperatures of leatherbacks nesting in the tropics have been found to be about 3°C above the water from which they emerged (Mrosovsky and Pritchard 1971), and dataloggers attached to implanted thermistors recorded subcarapacial temperatures as high as 3°C above that of the sea surface during the internesting interval off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica (Southwood et al 1999). Such findings suggest that leatherbacks might be able to maintain their temperature above ambient levels even in cool waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Body temperatures of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in temperate waters off Nova Scotia, Canada

James¹,

Mrosovsky²

2004

Can. J. Zool.

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The leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761), has the most extensive range of any reptile, migrating from tropical and subtropical nesting areas to distant foraging habitats, including those in temperate and even boreal waters. This implies flexible thermal functioning. It has been inferred that leatherbacks support active foraging by keeping warm in cold water, rather than becoming lethargic as other marine turtles do. However, data consistent with this view have come from captive turtles in unnatural and stressful conditions. In the present case, foraging leatherbacks were captured at sea off Nova Scotia and their body temperature recorded within 10 min, before such large animals could change their body temperatures appreciably. Mean excess temperature over that of the sea surface (15.0-16.7°C) averaged 8.2°C. These results attest to, but underestimate, the capacity of free-swimming leatherbacks to keep warm in northern waters, as data from another turtle that was instrumented to record ocean temperature while diving revealed that leatherbacks foraging in this area at the same time of year may spend 40% of their time diving to waters cooler than the surface.Résumé : La tortue luth, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761), possède l'aire de répartition la plus étendue de tous les reptiles, car elle migre de son aire de nidification tropicale ou subtropicale vers ses habitats lointains de recherche de nourriture qui incluent les eaux tempérées et même les eaux boréales. Un tel comportement suppose un fonctionnement thermique flexible. On en a déduit que les tortues luths maintiennent leur recherche active de nourriture en demeurant chaudes en eau froide, plutôt que léthargiques comme les autres tortues marines. Cependant, les données qui appuient cette hypothèse proviennent de tortues en captivité dans des conditions artificielles et éprouvantes. Dans cette étude, nous avons capturé des tortues en train de se nourrir en mer au large de la Nouvelle-Écosse et nous avons mesuré leur température corporelle dans un délai de moins de 10 min, avant que des animaux de cette taille n'aient le temps de subir une modification de leur température corporelle. Leur température moyenne est de 8,2°C supérieure en moyenne à celle de la surface de la mer (15,0-16,7°C). Ces données confirment, tout en la sous-estimant, la capacité des tortues luths en nage libre à se maintenir chaudes dans les eaux nordiques; en effet, des données provenant d'une autre tortue luth porteuse d'un enregistreur de température pendant la plongée indiquent que les tortues luths qui recherchent leur nourriture dans la même région au même moment de l'année peuvent passer 40 % de leur temps à plonger dans des eaux qui sont plus froides que les eaux de surface.[Traduit par la Rédaction] James and Mrosovsky 1306

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Body temperatures of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in temperate waters off Nova Scotia, Canada

James¹,

Mrosovsky²

2004

Can. J. Zool.

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“…Two articles had trackers measuring water temperature on foraging leatherbacks and 1 had water temperatures from bycatch incidents (Goff & Lien 1988, James & Mrosovsky 2004, James et al 2006a. Nine articles had trackers on internesting leatherbacks (Southwood et al 1999, 2005, James et al 2006a, Shillinger et al 2008, Fossette et al 2009, López-Mendilaharsu et al 2009, Casey et al 2010, Witt et al 2011. We calculated a weighted average and weighted standard deviation for these 3 sets of temperature data.…”

Section: Literature Search: Adult Thermal Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dark gray foraging bar represents average water temperature from public and fishermen sightings. We combined data for foraging with trackers (Goff & Lien 1988, James & Mrosovsky 2004, James et al 2006a, foraging sightings (McMahon & Hays 2006, James et al 2006b, and internesting (Southwood et al 1999, 2005, James et al 2006a, Shillinger et al 2008, Fossette et al 2009, López-Mendilaharsu et al 2009, Casey et al 2010, Witt et al 2011 Table 3. Dermochelys coriacea.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Using empirical and mechanistic models to assess global warming threats to leatherback sea turtles

Dudley¹,

Porter²

2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Global warming may pose a greater risk to species with unique thermal requirements during each life stage than species with a similar thermal requirement throughout all life stages. The risk to the former is higher because their unique thermal ranges may become geographically or temporally discontiguous. Additionally, modeling global warming's effects on these species is challenging due to their multiple thermal requirements. We explore these issues using leatherback sea turtles Dermochelys coriacea as a study species. The gigantothermy of adult leatherbacks and their subterranean egg incubation means global warming will differentially affect adults and eggs. To assess the unique thermal requirements in each life stage we used 2 distinct modeling approaches: (1) a mechanistic biophysical/physiological model to assess threats to adult leatherbacks, and (2) Bayesian regression with a mechanistic microclimate model to assess threats to leatherback eggs. We combined these models with a comprehensive literature search and a global climate model to establish the future thermal threats to the egg and adult leatherback life stages at 3 major rookeries (Gabon, French Guiana, and West Papua). We found that adult internesting and nesting core temperatures will not rise above the critical thermal maximum; however, at 2 of the 3 sites, adult core body temperatures will rise above the point where hatchlings experience uncoordinated movement. We also found that increased temperatures will greatly reduce success rates of egg clutches in West Papua and Gabon by the end of the 21st century.

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