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Polymodal foraging in adult female loggerheads (Caretta caretta)

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Abstract

To determine whether loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting in southeastern USA exhibit polymorphic foraging strategies, we evaluated skin samples for stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) from 310 loggerheads from four locations on the east coast of Florida and epibionts from 48 loggerheads. We found a dichotomy between a depleted δ13C cluster and an enriched δ13C cluster. Epibionts from oceanic/pelagic or neritic/benthic habitats were largely consistent with this dichotomy. The bimodal distribution of δ13C could reflect a bimodal foraging strategy or—because of the potential for confounding among four gradients of δ13C in marine environments—a polymodal foraging strategy. We integrate our results with results from other stable isotope studies, satellite telemetry, and flipper tags to evaluate potential foraging strategies. Understanding foraging strategies is essential for development of management plans for this endangered species that has suffered a 43% population decline over the last decade.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, FWC Marine Turtle Grants Program, Florida’s Marine Turtle Protection Trust Fund, Cape Canaveral National Seashore, and the Knight Vision Foundation and Keir Kleinknecht. This research was conducted in compliance with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Florida (Protocol #D-093), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (sea turtle permit #TP-016), and U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service (Scientific Research and Collecting Permits CANA-2003-SCI-0008; CANA-2004-SCI-0003). The PADI Foundation provided the microscopy equipment used for epibiont analyses. We thank J. Stiner for providing housing and field assistance at Cape Canaveral National Seashore, L. Ehrhart and L. Fisher for providing access to their study sites, J. Curtis for assistance with stable isotope analysis, J. Pfaller for his help with identification of epibionts, and B. Wallace for providing North Carolina stable isotope data. We also thank T. Hirama, N. Osman, T. Garcia, C. King, and K. Martin for their help in the field, P. Eliazar and K. L. Williams for their invaluable assistance, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Kimberly J. Reich, Karen A. Bjorndal & Alan B. Bolten

  2. Caretta Research Project, Box 9841, Savannah, GA, 31412, USA

    Michael G. Frick

  3. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 9700 South A1A, Melbourne Beach, FL, 32951, USA

    Blair E. Witherington

  4. Loggerhead Marinelife Center, 14200 US Hwy 1, Juno Beach, Fl, 33408, USA

    Chris Johnson

Authors
  1. Kimberly J. Reich
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  2. Karen A. Bjorndal
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  4. Blair E. Witherington
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  5. Chris Johnson
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  6. Alan B. Bolten
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Correspondence to Kimberly J. Reich.

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Communicated by R. Lewison.

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Reich, K.J., Bjorndal, K.A., Frick, M.G. et al. Polymodal foraging in adult female loggerheads (Caretta caretta). Mar Biol 157, 113–121 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1300-4

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