Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Satellite tracking reveals a dichotomy in migration strategies among juvenile loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Few data are available on the movements and behavior of immature Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from their seasonal neritic foraging grounds within the western north Atlantic. These waters provide developmental habitat for loggerheads originating from several western Atlantic nesting stocks. We examined the long-term movements of 23 immature loggerheads (16 wild-caught and seven headstart turtles) characterizing their seasonal distribution, habitat use, site fidelity, and the oceanographic conditions encountered during their migrations. We identified two movement strategies: (1) a seasonal shelf-constrained north–south migratory pattern; and (2) a year-round oceanic dispersal strategy where turtles travel in the Gulf Stream to the North Atlantic and their northern dispersal is limited by the 10–15°C isotherm. When sea surface temperatures dropped below 20°C, neritic turtles began a migration south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (USA) where they established fidelity to the waters between North Carolina’s Outer Banks and the western edge of the Gulf Stream along outer continental shelf. Two turtles traveled as far south as Florida. Several turtles returned to their seasonal foraging grounds during subsequent summers. Northern movements were associated with both increased sea surface temperature (>21°C) and increased primary productivity. Our results indicate strong seasonal and interannual philopatry to the waters of Virginia (summer foraging habitat) and North Carolina (winter habitat). We suggest that the waters of Virginia and North Carolina provide important seasonal habitat and serve as a seasonal migratory pathway for immature loggerhead sea turtles. North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras acts as a seasonal “migratory bottleneck” for this species; special management consideration should be given to this region. Six turtles spent time farther from the continental shelf. Three entered the Gulf Stream near Cape Hatteras, traveling in the current to the northwest Atlantic. Two of these turtles remained within an oceanic habitat from 1 to 3 years and were associated with mesoscale features and frontal systems. The ability of large benthic subadults to resume an oceanic lifestyle for extended periods indicates plasticity in habitat use and migratory strategies. Therefore, traditional life history models for loggerhead sea turtles should be reevaluated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Argos (1988) User’s Manual: Version 1.0, November 1988. Argos/CLS, Toulouse, France, pp 156

  • Argos (1996) User’s Manual: Version 1.0, January 1996. Argos/CLS, Toulouse, France, pp 176

  • Avens L (2003) Homing behavior, navigation, and orientation of juvenile sea turtles. PhD thesis, Duke University. Chapel Hill, North Carolina

  • Avens LA, Lohmann KJ (2004) Navigation and seasonal migratory orientation in juvenile sea turtles. J Exp Biol 207:1771–1778

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Avens L, Braun JB, Epperly SP, Lohmann KJ (2003) Site fidelity and homing behavior in juvenile loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta. Mar Biol 143:211–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass AL, Epperly SP, Braun-McNeill J (2004) Multi-year analysis of stock composition of a loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) foraging habitat using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. Conserv Genet 5:783–796

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belkin IM, O’Reilly JE (2009) An algorithm for oceanic front detection in chlorophyll and sea surface temperature satellite imagery. J Mar Syst (in press). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.11.018

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell R, Richardson JI (1978) An analysis of tag recoveries from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting on Little Cumberland Island, Georgia, Florida. Mar Res Publ 33:20–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Berthold P (1996) Control of bird migration. Chapman and Hall, London, p 355

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB, Martins HR (2000) Somatic growth model of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta: duration of the pelagic stage. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 202:265–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen BW, Bass AL, Chow S, Bostrom M, Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB, Okuyama T, Bolker BM, Epperly S, Lacasella E, Shaver D, Dodd M, Hopkins-Murphy SR, Musick JA, Swingle M, Rankin-Baransky K, Teas W, Witzell WN, Dutton PH (2004) Natal homing in juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). Mol Ecol 13(12):3797–3808

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Britten MW, Kennedy PL, Ambrose S (1999) Performance and accuracy evaluation of small satellite transmitters. J Wildl Manag 63:1349–1358

    Google Scholar 

  • Broderick AC, Coyne MS, Fuller WJ, Glen F, Godley BJ (2007) Fidelity and overwintering of sea turtles. Proc R Soc B 274:1533–1538

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brothers N, Gails R, Hedd A, Robertson G (1998) Foraging movements of the shy albatross Diomeda cauta breeding in Australia; implications for interactions with longline fisheries. Ibis 140:446–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Byles RA (1988) The behavior and ecology of sea turtles in Virginia. PhD thesis, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia

  • Carr A (1986) Rips, FADS and little loggerheads. Bioscience 36(2):92–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr A (1987) New perspectives on the pelagic stage of sea turtle development. Conserv Biol 1(2):103–121

    Google Scholar 

  • CLS America, Inc. (2007) ARGOS User’s manual: worldwide tracking and environmental monitoring by satellite. Argos/CLS, Toulouse, France, October 14, 2008 update. Online: https://doi.org/www.argos-system.org/manual/index.html#home.htm

  • Coles W (1999) Aspects of the biology of sea turtles in the mid-Atlantic bight. PhD thesis, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia

  • Coles W, Musick JA (2000) Satellite sea surface temperature analysis and correlation with sea turtle distribution off North Carolina. Copeia 2000(2):551–554

    Google Scholar 

  • Coyne MS, Godley BJ (2005) Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT): an integrated system for archiving, analyzing and mapping animal tracking data. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 301:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • De Solla SR, Bonduriansky R, Brooks RJ (1999) Eliminating autocorrelation reduces biological relevance of home range estimates. J Anim Ecol 68:221–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Donnelley M (1994) Sea turtle mariculture: a review of relevant information for conservation and commerce. Center for Marine Conservation, Washington, DC, 113 pp

  • Drickamer LC, Vessey SH (1986) Animal behavior: concepts, processes and methods, 2nd edn. Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, Boston, Massachusetts, pp 411–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckert SA, Martins HR (1989) Transatlantic travel by juvenile loggerhead turtle. Mar Turtle Newsl 45:15

    Google Scholar 

  • Encalada SE, Bjorndal KA, Bolton AB, Zurita JC, Schroeder B, Possardt E, Sears CJ, Bowen BW (1998) Population structure of loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting colonies in the Atlantic and Mediterranean as inferred from mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. Mar Biol 130:567–575

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Epperly SP, Braun J, Chester AJ, Cross FA, Merriner JV, Tester PA (1995) Winter distribution of sea turtles in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras and their interactions with the summer flounder fishery. Bull Mar Sci 56(2):547–568

    Google Scholar 

  • Farner D (1955) The annual stimulus for migration: experimental and physiological aspects. In: Wolfson A (ed) Recent studies in avian biology. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, pp 198–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatase H, Takai N, Matsuzawa Y, Sakamoto W, Omuta K, Goto K, Arai N, Fujiwara T (2002) Size-related differences in feeding habitat use of adult female loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta around Japan determined by stable isotope analyses and satellite telemetry. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 233:273–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatase H, Sato K, Yamaguchi M, Takahashi K, Tsukamoto K (2006) Individual variation in feeding habitat use by adult female green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas): are they obligately neritic herbivores? Oecologia 149:52–64

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes LA, Broderick AC, Coyne MS, Godfrey MH, Lopez-Jurado L-F, Lopez-Suarez P, Merino SE, Varo-Cruz N, Godley BJ (2006) Phenotypically linked dichotomy in sea turtle foraging requires multiple conservation approaches. Curr Biol 16:990–995

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes LA, Broderick AC, Coyne MS, Godfrey MH, Godley BJ (2007) Only some like it hot: quantifying the environmental niche of the loggerhead sea turtle. Divers Distrib 13(4):447–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays GC, Akesson S, Godley BJ, Luschi P, Santidrian P (2001) The implications of location accuracy for the interpretation of satellite-tracking data. Anim Behav 61:1035–1040

    Google Scholar 

  • Helms C (1963) The annual cycle and Zugenruhe in birds. In: American Ornithologist’s Union (ed) Proceedings of the XIII international ornithological congress, american ornithologist’s union. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas, pp 925–939

  • Hooge PN, Eichenlaub W, Hooge ER (2001) Animal Movement 2.5. US Geological Survey, Alaska Biological Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska

  • Hopkins-Murphy SR, Owens DW, Murphy TM (2003) Ecology of immature loggerheads on foraging grounds and adults in internesting habitat in the eastern United States. In: Bolton A, Witherington B (eds) Loggerhead sea turtles. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 79–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoscheid S, Bentivegna F, Hays GC (2005) First records of dive durations for hibernating a sea turtle. Biol Lett 1:82–86

    Google Scholar 

  • James MC, Ottensmeyer CA, Meyers RA (2005a) Identification of high-use habitat and threats to leatherback sea turtles in northern waters: new directions for conservation. Ecol Lett 8:195–201

    Google Scholar 

  • James MC, Meyers RA, Ottensmeyer CA (2005b) Behaviour of leatherback sea turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, during the migratory cycle. Proc R Soc B 272:1547–1555

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • James MC, Sherrill-Mix SA, Martin K, Meyers RA (2006) Canadian waters provide critical foraging habitat for leatherback turtles. Biol Conserv 133:347–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Keinath, JA (1993) Movements and behavior of wild and head-started sea turtles. PhD thesis, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia

  • Kobayashi DR, Polovina JJ, Paker DM, Kamezaki N, Cheng I, Uchida I, Dutton PH, Balazs GH (2008) Pelagic habitat characterization of loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, in the North Pacific Ocean (1997–2006): insights from satellite tag tracking and remotely sensed data. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 356(2008):96–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipcius RN, Stockhausen WT (2002) Concurrent decline of the spawning stock, recruitment, larval abundance, and size of blue crab in Chesapeake Bay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 226:45–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Luschi P, Hays GC, Papi F (2003) A review of long-distance movements by marine turtles, and the possible role of ocean currents. Oikos 103:293–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutcavage H, Musick JA (1985) Aspects of the biology of sea turtles in Virginia. Copeia 38(4):329–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield K (2006) Sources of mortality, movements and behavior of sea turtles in Virginia. PhD thesis, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia

  • McClellan CM, Read AJ (2007) Complexity and variation in loggerhead sea turtle life history. Biol Lett 3(6):592–594

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Meylan AB, Ehrenfeld D (2000) Conservation of marine turtles. In: Klemens MW (ed) Turtle conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 96–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Millspaugh JJ, Marzluff JM (2001) Radio tracking and animal populations. Academic Press, London, p 474

    Google Scholar 

  • Moon D-Y, Mackenzie DS, Owens DW (1997) Simulated hibernation of sea turtles in the laboratory: I. feeding, breathing frequency, blood pH, and blood gases. J Exp Zool 278:372–380

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morreale SJ (1999) Oceanic migrations of sea turtles. PhD thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

  • Morreale SJ, Standora AE (1988) Early life stage ecology of sea turtles in northeastern US waters. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-413

  • Morreale SJ, Meylan AB, Sadove SS, Standora AE (1992) Annual occurrence and winter mortality of marine turtles in New York waters. J Herpetol 26(2):130–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Musick JA, Limpus CJ (1997) Habitat utilization and migration in juvenile sea turtles. In: Lutz PL, Musick JA (eds) The biology of sea turtles. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 137–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Musick JA, Branstetter S, Colvocoresses JA (1993) Trends in shark abundance from 1974 to 1991 in the Chesapeake bight region of the US Mid-Atlantic Coast. NOAA Technical Report NMFS-115, pp 1–18

  • National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center (2009) An assessment of loggerhead sea turtles to estimate impacts of mortality reductions on population dynamics. NMFS SEFSC Contribution PRD-08/09-14. Miami, Florida, 46 pp

  • Nelson DA (1996) Subadult loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) behavior in St. Marys entrance channel, Georgia, USA. PhD thesis, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia

  • Norrgard JW (1996) Determination of the natal origin of a juvenile loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) population in Chesapeake Bay using mitochondrial DNA analysis. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sea Turtle Conservation Genetics, pp 129–136. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-396

  • Pelletier D, Roos D, Ciccione S (2003) Oceanic survival and movements of wild and captive reared immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Indian Ocean. Aquat Living Resour 16:35–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Plotkin PT, Spotila JR (2002) Post-nesting migrations of loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta. Oryx 36(4):396–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Polovina JJ, Kobayashi DR, Parker D, Seki MP, Balazs GH (2000) Turtles on the edge: movement of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) along oceanic fronts, spanning longline fishing grounds in the central North Pacific, 1997–1998. Fish Oceanogr 9(1):71–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Polovina J, Uchida I, Balazs GH, Howell EA, Parker D, Dutton P (2006) The Kuroshio Extension Bifurcation Region: a pelagic hotspot for juvenile loggerhead sea turtles. Deep-Sea Res II 53:326–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Rankin-Baransky KC, Williams J, Bass AL, Bowen BW, Spotila JR (2001) Origin of loggerhead turtles stranded in the northeast Atlantic as determined by mtDNA analysis. J Herpetol 35:638–646

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryder TS (1995) Daily movements and relocation of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Master’s thesis, State University of New York College at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York

  • Saba VS, Spotila JR, Chavez FP, Musick JA (2008) Bottom-up and climatic forcing on the worldwide population of leatherback turtles. Ecology 89:1414–1427

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sasso CR, Braun-McNeill J, Avens L, Epperly SP (2006) Effects of transients on estimating survival and population growth in juvenile loggerhead turtles. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 324:287–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz FJ (1978) Behavioral and tolerance responses to cold water temperatures by three species of sea turtles (Reptilia, Cheloniidae) in North Carolina. In: Henderson GE (ed) Proceedings of the Florida interregional conference on sea turtles, 24–25 July 1976, Jensen Beach, Florida. Florida Marine Research Publication 33(1978):16–18

  • Seminoff JA, Zárate P, Coyne M, Foley DG, Parker D, Lyon BN, Dutton PH (2007) Post-nesting migrations of Galápagos green turtles Chelonia mydas in relation to oceanographic conditions: integrating satellite telemetry with remotely sensed ocean data. Endang Species Res 4:57–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Seney EE, Landry AM (2008) Movements of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles nesting on the upper Texas coast: implications for management. Endang Species Res 4:73–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Seney EE, Musick JA (2006) Historical diet analysis of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in Virginia. Copeia 2007(2):478–489

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver DJ, Rubio C (2008) Post-nesting movements of wild and head-started Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) in the Gulf of Mexico. Endang Species Res 4:43–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Shoop CR, Kenney RD (1992) Seasonal distribution and abundances of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles in northeastern United States waters. Herpetol Monogr 6:43–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Snover, ML (2002) Growth and ontogeny of sea turtles using skeletochronology: methods validation and application to conservation. PhD thesis, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

  • Spotila JR, Standora EA (1985) Environmental constraints on the thermal energetics of sea turtles. Copeia 1985(3):694–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Spotila JR, O’Connor MP, Paladino F (1997) Thermal biology. In: Lutz PL, Musick JA (eds) The biology of sea turtles. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 137–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Tougaard J, Teilmann J, Tourgaard S (2008) Harbour seal spatial distribution estimated from Argos satellite telemetry: overcoming positional errors. Endang Species Res 4:113–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Turtle Expert Working Group (2007) An assessment of the leatherback turtle population in the Atlantic Ocean. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-555

  • Vincent C, McConnell BJ, Ridoux V, Fedak MA (2002) Assessment of ARGOS location accuracy from satellite tags deployed on captive grey seals. Mar Mamm Sci 18:156–166

    Google Scholar 

  • White GC, Garrott RA (1990) Analysis of wildlife radio-tracking data. Academic Press, San Diego, p 383

    Google Scholar 

  • Witherington BE (2002) Ecology of neonate loggerhead turtles inhabiting lines of downwelling near a Gulf Stream front. Mar Biol 140:843–853

    Google Scholar 

  • Witt MJ, Broderick AC, Johns DJ, Martin C, Penrose R, Hoogmoed MS, Godley BJ (2007) Prey landscapes help identify potential foraging habitats for leatherback turtles in the NE Atlantic. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 337:231–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Witzell WN (2002) Immature Atlantic loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta): suggested changes to the life history model. Herpetol Rev 33(4):226–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, Inc, Upper Saddle River, p 663

    Google Scholar 

  • Zug GR, Vitt LJ, Caldwell JP (2001) Herpetology: introductory biology of amphibians and reptiles, 2nd edn. Academic Press, San Diego, p 630

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Virginia pound netters and watermen for providing us with wild-caught sea turtles. We also thank Virginia Aquarium Stranding and Research program and T. Bargo for providing live turtles. Special thanks are due to M. Fagan, S. Fertall, D. Keinath, A. Knowles, E. Seney, for field assistance, and to S. Sherrill-Mix for providing his program and expertise for our hexagon-bin analyses. Funding was made available for this project by the Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District. We also thank R. Brill and M. Musyl for providing us with several satellite tags; and M. Coyne of seaturtle.org for his assistance and we acknowledge the use of the Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool. Our research was conducted in compliance with the current laws and protected species permitting guidelines of the United States. Oceanographic data sources. NASA’s Ocean Color Project MODIS sensor data available from: https://doi.org/oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov. Vertically Generalized Production Model (VGPM) data available from the Oregon State University Ocean Productivity website: https://doi.org/web.science.oregonstate.edu/ocean.productivity. Ssalto/Duacs distributed by Archiving Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Data in Oceanography (AVISO) with satellite data derived from TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason, and ERS-1/2, available from: https://doi.org/ftp.cls.fr/pub/oceano/AVISO/SSH/duacs/global/dt/ref/msla/merged/h. Monthly images were processed, smoothed, and extracted from https://doi.org/argo.colorado.edu/~realtime/gsfc_global-real-time_ssh/.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Katherine L. Mansfield

  2. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, P.O. Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA, 23062, USA

    Katherine L. Mansfield, Vincent S. Saba & John A. Musick

  3. 176 Herbal Lane, Midway, GA, 31320, USA

    John A. Keinath

Authors
  1. Katherine L. Mansfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vincent S. Saba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John A. Keinath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. John A. Musick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katherine L. Mansfield.

Additional information

Communicated by R. Lewison.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mansfield, K.L., Saba, V.S., Keinath, J.A. et al. Satellite tracking reveals a dichotomy in migration strategies among juvenile loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic. Mar Biol 156, 2555–2570 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1279-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1279-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation