Grant: 24-003C
Project Title: Investigating the environmental factors influencing movement patterns of nesting leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)
Project Manager: Annie Page
Organization: Florida Atlantic University (Research and Educational Institute)
Grant Amount: $26,079.00
Completion Date:
Summary: The most-recently published biotelemetry study on leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting on southeastern Florida beaches took place during 2000-2002. Since then, conditions at foraging areas may have occurred due to warming sea surface temperatures and food availability. Therefore, it is important to continue monitoring this population to determine how and why populations trends of southeastern Florida nesting leatherbacks differ from other NWA nesting stocks. Satellite tracking allows for the continuous monitoring of animals in near real time, regardless of location, and transmitters can be equipped with onboard sensors that collect environmental and behavioral data for each tagged individual. Few studies have examined leatherback fidelity to foraging habitats, and this behavior could be linked to specific regional conditions (i.e., prey availability, sea surface temperature, and ocean currents) which are suitable for leatherback foraging. The aim of this study is to examine the foraging site fidelity of the southeastern Florida nesting aggregation and evaluate the environmental conditions influencing foraging behavior. We will accomplish this goal by affixing satellite transmitters during 2024 on Juno Beach, Florida to identify and describe the environmental conditions along migration corridors and in critical inter-nesting and foraging habitats. In collaboration with Loggerhead Marinelife Center's long-term leatherback nesting database, we will deploy satellite transmitters on a combination of neophyte, remigrant, and previously satellite-tagged leatherbacks to monitor a variety of individuals from nesting beaches to foraging areas.
Results: