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Green and hawksbill turtles in the Lesser Antilles demonstrate behavioural plasticity in inter-nesting behaviour and post-nesting migration

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Abstract

Satellite transmitters were deployed on three green turtles, Chelonia mydas, and two hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, nesting in the Lesser Antilles islands, Caribbean, between 2005 and 2007 to obtain preliminary information about the inter-nesting, migratory and foraging habitats in the region. Despite the extremely small dataset, both year-round residents and migrants were identified; specifically, (1) two green turtles used local shallow coastal sites within 50 km of the nesting beach during all of their inter-nesting periods and then settled at these sites on completion of their breeding seasons, (2) one hawksbill turtle travelled 200 km westward before reversing direction and settling within 50 km of the original nesting beach and (3) one green and one hawksbill turtle initially nested at the proximate site, before permanently relocating to an alternative nesting site over 190 km distant. A lack of nesting beach fidelity was supported by flipper tag datasets for the region. Tagging datasets from 2002 to 2012 supported that some green and hawksbill individuals exhibit low fidelity to nesting beaches, whereas other females exhibited a high degree of fidelity (26 turtles tagged, 40.0 km maximum distance recorded from original nesting beach). Individual turtles nesting on St Eustatius and St Maarten appear to exhibit behavioural plasticity in their inter-nesting behaviour and post-nesting migration routes in the eastern Caribbean. The tracking and tagging data combined indicate that some of the green and hawksbill females that nest in the Lesser Antilles islands are year-round residents, whilst others may nest and forage at alternative sites. Thus, continued year-round protection of these islands and implementation of protection programmes in nearby islands could contribute towards safeguarding the green and hawksbill populations of the region.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge use of the Maptool program (www.seaturtle.org) for analysis and graphics in this paper. Funding was provided by a grant from the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA); additional funding and equipment was provided by WIDECAST and the Marine Turtle Tagging Centre in Barbados. The study was conducted within the Marine Park programmes and complied with all relevant national legislation. Numerous STENAPA and Nature Foundation St Maarten staff and volunteers are acknowledged for assisting in the attachment of satellite transmitters and monitoring activities between 2002 and 2012. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Nicole Esteban

  2. Chelonia Inc, PO Box 9020708, San Juan, PR, 00902, USA

    Robert P. van Dam

  3. Sea Turtle Conservancy, Apartado Postal 246-2050, San Pedro, Costa Rica

    Emma Harrison

  4. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK

    Arturo Herrera

  5. Statia National Marine Park, STENAPA, Gallows Bay, Oranjestad, St Eustatius, The Netherlands

    Jessica Berkel

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  1. Nicole Esteban
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Correspondence to Nicole Esteban.

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Communicated by J. Houghton.

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Esteban, N., van Dam, R.P., Harrison, E. et al. Green and hawksbill turtles in the Lesser Antilles demonstrate behavioural plasticity in inter-nesting behaviour and post-nesting migration. Mar Biol 162, 1153–1163 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2656-2

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