First Atlantic satellite tracks of 'lost years' green turtles support the importance of the Sargasso Sea as a sea turtle nursery.

ABSTRACT: In-water behaviour and long-term movements of oceanic-stage juvenile sea turtles are not well described or quantified. This is owing to technological or logistical limitations of tracking small, fast-growing animals across long distances and time periods within marine habitats. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first long-term offshore tracks of oceanic green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in western North Atlantic waters. Using a tag attachment technique developed specifically for young (less than 1 year old) green turtles, we satellite-tracked 21 oceanic-stage green turtles (less than 19 cm straight carapace length) up to 152 days using small, solar-powered transmitters. We verify that oceanic-stage green turtles: (i) travel to and remain within oceanic waters; (ii) often depart t

SUBMITTER: Mansfield KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8103231 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature