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Effects of El Niño-driven environmental variability on black turtle migration to Peruvian foraging grounds

  • Jellyfish Blooms
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Jellyfish Blooms: New Problems and Solutions

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology 212 ((DIHY,volume 212))

Abstract

We analyzed sea temperature as an environmental factor, in association with ENSO, affecting the migration of East Pacific black turtle, Chelonia mydas (=Chelonia agassizii Bocourt), to its foraging areas and its feeding ecology at San Andrés, Peru. A 19-year sea turtle landing database (1970–1988) was constructed to associate landing fluctuations with environmental variability represented by the Peruvian Oscillation Index. A positive correlation between them (r = 0.75, P < 0.05) indicated that exceptionally large black turtle landings occurred in San Andrés port during El Niño episodes. Warmer waters (SST 22–28°C) approached near the Peruvian coast during El Niño episodes, thus facilitating black turtle access to this area. Furthermore, during El Niño 1987, large juvenile and adult black turtles, known to be primarily herbivorous, fed mainly on the scyphozoan jellyfish Chrysaora plocamia Péron & Lesueur, which was very abundant during this event. It is likely that black turtles exploited this resource opportunistically. Inter-annual environmental variability, driven by El Niño Southern Oscillation, has profound consequences for the ecology of the endangered black turtle, which should be considered when evaluating the effects of anthropogenic activities on its population dynamics.

Guest editors: J.E. Purcell & Dror Angel / Jellyfish Blooms: New Problems and Solutions

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Costero de Pisco, Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE), Av. Los Libertadores A-12, Urb. El Golf, Paracas, Ica, Peru

    Javier Quiñones & Jorge Zeballos

  2. CONICET-Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Paseo Victoria Ocampo n°1, B7602HSA, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    Victoria González Carman & Hermes Mianzan

  3. Centro de Investigaciones en Modelaje Oceanográfico y Biológico-Pesquero (CIMOBP), Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE), Esquina Gamarra y General Valle s/n Chucuito, Callao, Peru

    Sara Purca

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  1. Javier Quiñones
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  2. Victoria González Carman
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  3. Jorge Zeballos
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  4. Sara Purca
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  5. Hermes Mianzan
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Correspondence to Hermes Mianzan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Shannon Point Marine Center, Western Washington University, 1900 Shannon Point Rd, 98221, WA, Anacortes, USA

    Jennifer E. Purcell

  2. Coastal and Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork, Naval Base, Haulbowline Island, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland

    Jennifer E. Purcell

  3. Department of Maritime Civilizations, Leon Recanati Institute of Maritime Studies, Haifa University, 31905, Mt Carmel, Haifa, Israel

    Dror L. Angel

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Quiñones, J., González Carman, V., Zeballos, J., Purca, S., Mianzan, H. (2010). Effects of El Niño-driven environmental variability on black turtle migration to Peruvian foraging grounds. In: Purcell, J.E., Angel, D.L. (eds) Jellyfish Blooms: New Problems and Solutions. Developments in Hydrobiology 212, vol 212. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9541-1_6

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