Open Ocean Reorientation and Challenges of Island Finding by Sea Turtles during Long-Distance Migration

Hays, Graeme C.; Cerritelli, Giulia; Esteban, Nicole; Rattray, Alex; Luschi, Paolo

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.086

Cited by 28 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…It is likely that manta rays have a cognitive map of particular reef areas, akin to how animals with distinct home ranges know their environment intimately (Harten et al., 2020). In common with other taxa such as sea turtles, that alternate between oceanic and coastal areas, manta rays likely use coarse‐scale navigational cues in the open ocean, and precisely orientated movement in coastal areas (Hays et al., 2020). Manta rays visit the same reef systems across many years, as demonstrated by photo‐ID records (Couturier et al., 2014; Harris et al., 2020), and such repeated site use is similar to that seen in sea turtles and many bird species that maintain strong site fidelity to particular areas interspersed with long‐distance migration (Alerstam et al., 2006; Armstrong et al., 2019; Shimada et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualism promotes site selection in a large marine planktivore

Armstrong

Bennett

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualism promotes site selection in a large marine planktivore

Armstrong

Bennett

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…at their breeding grounds which are easily accessible to humans, they spend most of their lives at their foraging grounds (Hays et al 2014). Green turtles can migrate vast distances across international borders between breeding and feeding grounds (Hays and Hawkes 2018;Hays et al 2020) and maintain tight fidelity to their foraging grounds over successive migrations (Shimada et al 2020). These complex life history strategies highlight the need to improve understanding of green turtle foraging behaviour in different regions and habitats (Klein et al 2017).…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global review of green turtle diet: sea surface temperature as a potential driver of omnivory levels

et al. 2020

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To better understand dietary requirements, trophic shifts, and trophic interactions of the threatened green turtle (Chelonia mydas), we conducted a comprehensive global review and literature tabulation (177 studies) reporting diets of individuals > 25 cm carapace length. We analysed those studies involving natural sites and healthy animals that reported relative proportions of all diet components (67 studies, 89 datasets at 75 sites, 13 geographic sub-regions, 3 oceans). We compared diets by sub-region and foraging site relative to four diet components, i.e., seagrass, macroalgae, terrestrial plants (including mangroves) and animal matter. To assess sea surface temperature (SST) as an environmental driver, values were extracted from satellite data (single year) and site-specific observations (study durations) and examined relative to diet composition. Satellite data indicated that at warmer sites with temperatures > 25 °C (≥ 6 months annually), diet was predominantly herbivorous (mean = 92.97%; SE = 9.85; n = 69 datasets). At higher latitude sites and in cold-water currents with SST < 20 °C (≥ 6 months annually), dietary animal matter featured prominently (mean = 51.47%; SE = 4.84; n = 20 datasets). Site-specific observations indicated that SST had a small but significant effect on contributions of animal matter (r2 = 0.17, P = < 0.001) and seagrass (r2 = 0.24, P = < 0.001) but not macroalgae and terrestrial plants. Our study presents the first quantitative evidence at a global scale that temperature may be an important driver of omnivory, providing a new perspective on variations in green turtle diet, especially in light of global warming and climate change.

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“…While we do not have logger data for this turtle, we can safely assume, in analogy with the other turtles, that these movements derived from an active orientation of the turtle, that therefore displayed poor homing abilities, without even being helped by coastal cues. The importance of costal cues in turtle navigation has been recently highlighted by satellite tracking data showing that turtles often have difficulty in finding small remote targets, like isolated oceanic islands 36,37 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A biphasic navigational strategy in loggerhead sea turtles

Luschi

Sözbilen

Cerritelli

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The homing journeys of nine loggerhead turtles translocated from their nesting beach to offshore release sites, were reconstructed through Argos and GPS telemetry while their water-related orientation was simultaneously recorded at high temporal resolution by multi-sensor data loggers featuring a three-axis magnetic sensor. All turtles managed to return to the nesting beach area, although with indirect routes encompassing an initial straight leg not precisely oriented towards home, and a successive homebound segment carried out along the coast. Logger data revealed that, after an initial period of disorientation, turtles were able to precisely maintain a consistent direction for several hours while moving in the open sea, even during night-time. Their water-related headings were in accordance with the orientation of the resulting route, showing little or no effect of current drift. This study reveals a biphasic homing strategy of displaced turtles involving an initial orientation weakly related to home and a successive shift to coastal navigation, which is in line with the modern conceptual framework of animal migratory navigation as deriving from sequential mechanisms acting at different spatial scales.

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Open Ocean Reorientation and Challenges of Island Finding by Sea Turtles during Long-Distance Migration

Cited by 28 publications

References 34 publications

Mutualism promotes site selection in a large marine planktivore

Mutualism promotes site selection in a large marine planktivore

A global review of green turtle diet: sea surface temperature as a potential driver of omnivory levels

A biphasic navigational strategy in loggerhead sea turtles

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