Abstract
Previous studies have shown that loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), monitored by satellite telemetry, complete long-distance migration between the western and eastern Mediterranean basins following a seasonal pattern. This study investigated if these migration routes may be influenced by surface currents by superimposing the tracks of three loggerhead turtles (curved carapace length >55 cm), migrating from the western to the eastern Mediterranean basin, on Lagrangian data of current developed into pseudo-eulerian speed fields. The average travel speed of the turtles was 1.6 km h−1 and did not depend on the current speed or direction. We observed a connection between surface currents and the turtles’ migration routes, although not a conclusive one. These observations show that neritic stage loggerhead turtles conduct migration in two distinct alternate phases: the first characterized by high and constant speed of travel both when swimming with or against currents and the second typified by low travel speeds and a good concurrence between the trailed routes and the course of the currents. These two phases corresponded to two types of movements, one where the turtle migrates actively to reach a specific destination (either neritic foraging, wintering or nesting ground) and the other, where the turtle drifts with the mesoscale current and forages pelagically. It seemed thus, that the influence of currents on a turtle’s movements depends on the turtle’s momentary behaviour and location of residence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akesson S (1996) Geomagnetic map used for long-distance navigation? Trends Ecol Evol 11:398–399
Bauer S, Swenson MS, Griffa A (1998) Eddy-mean flow decomposition and eddy-diffusivity estimates in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Part 1: Methodology. J Geophys Res 103:30855–30871
Bellucci A, Buffoni G, Griffa A, Zambianchi E (2001) Estimation of residence time in semi-enclosed basins with steady flows. Dyn Atmos Oceans 33:201–218
Bentivegna F (2002) Intra-Mediterranean migrations of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) monitored by satellite telemetry. Mar Biol 141:795–800
Béranger K, Mortier L, Crépon M (2004) Seasonal variability of water transport through the Straits of Gibraltar, Sicily and Corsica, derived from a high-resolution model of the Mediterranean circulation. Prog Oceanogr 66:341–364
Bjorndal KA (1985) Nutritional ecology of sea turtles. Copeia 1985:736–751
Bolten AB (2003) Variation in sea turtle life history patterns: neritic vs. oceanic developmental stages. In: Lutz PL, Musick JA, Wyneken J (eds) The biology of sea turtles, vol II. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 243–257
Buffoni G, Falco P, Griffa A, Zambianchi E (1997) Dispersion processes and residence times in a semi-enclosed basin with recirculating gyres: an application to the Tyrrhenian Sea. J Geophys Res 102:18682–18699
Buongiorno-Nardelli B, Sparnocchia S, Santoleri R (2001) Small mesoscale features at a meandering upper ocean front in the western Ionian Sea (Mediterranean Sea): vertical motion and potential vorticity analysis. J Phys Oceanogr 31:2227–2250
Buskey EJ (1984) Swimming pattern as an indicator of the roles of copepod sensory systems in the recognition of food. Mar Biol 79:165–175
Carr A (1965) The navigation of the green turtle. Sci Am 212:79–86
Carr A (1987) New perspectives on the pelagic stage of sea turtle development. Conserv Biol 1:103–121
Davis RE (1985) Drifter observations of coastal surface currents during CODE: the method and descriptive view. J Geophys Res 90:4741–4755
Falco P, Griffa A, Poulain P-M, Zambianchi E (2000) Transport properties in the Adriatic Sea as deduced from drifter data. J Phys Oceanogr 30:2055–2071
Godley BJ, Broderick AC, Glen F, Hays GC (2003) Post-nesting movements and submergence patterns of loggerhead marine turtles in the Mediterranean assessed by satellite tracking. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 287:119–134
Grilli F, Pinardi N (1998) The computation of Rossby radii of deformation for the Mediterranean Sea. MTP News 6:4
Hansen DV, Poulain P-M (1996) Quality control and interpolation of WOCE/TOGA drifter data. J Atmos Oceanic Technol 13:900–909
Hays GC, Marsh R (1997) Estimating the age of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles in the North Atlantic. Can J Zool 75:40–46
Hays GC, Åkesson 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
Hochscheid S, Bentivegna F, Hays GC (2005) First records of dive durations for a hibernating sea turtle. Biol Lett 1:82–86
Korres G, Pinardi N, Lascaratos A (2000) The ocean response to low frequency interannual atmospheric variability in the Mediterranean Sea. Part I: sensitivity experiments and energy analysis. J Phys Oceanogr 30:705–731
La Violette PE (ed) (1994) Seasonal and interannual variability of the western Mediterranean Sea. American Geophysical Union
Leaman KD (1990) Physical oceanographic measurement techniques at sea. In: Le Mehaute B, Hanes DM (eds) The sea, vol 9. Part B. Wiley, New York, pp 1163–1192
Lermusiaux PFJ, Robinson AR (2001) Features of dominant mesoscale variability, circulation patterns and dynamics in the Strait of Sicily. Deep Sea Res 9:1953–1997
Lohman KJ, Lohmann CMF, Ehrhart LM, Bagley DA, Swing T (2004) Geomagnetic map used in sea-turtle navigation. Nature 428:909–910
Luschi P, Hays GC, del Seppia C, Marsh R, Papi F (1998) The navigational feats of green turtles migrating from Ascension Island investigated by satellite telemetry. Proc R Soc Lond B 265:2279–2284
Luschi P, Hays GC, Papi F (2003a) A review of long-distance movements by marine turtles, and the possible role of ocean currents. Oikos 103:293–302
Luschi P, Sale A, Mencacci R, Hughes GR, Lutjeharms JRE, Papi F (2003b) Current transport of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the ocean. Proc R Soc Lond B. DOI 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0036
Malanotte-Rizzoli P, Robinson AR (eds) (1994) Ocean processes in climate dynamics: global and Mediterranean examples. Kluwer, Dordrecht
Malanotte-Rizzoli P, Manca BB, Ribera D'Alcala M, Theocharis A, Bergamasco A, Bregant D, Budillon G, Civitarese G, Georgopoulos D, Michelato A, Sansone E, Scarazzato P, Souvermezoglou E (1997) A synthesis of the Ionian Sea hydrography, circulation and water mass pathways during POEM Phase I. Progress in Oceanography 39(3):153–204
Margaritoulis D, Argano R, Baran I, Bentivegna F, Bradai MN, Camiñas JA, Casale P, De Metrio G, Demetropoulos A, Gerosa G, Godley BJ, Haddoud DA, Houghton J, Laurent L, Lazar B (2003) Loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean sea: present knowledge and conservation perspectives. In: Bolten AB, Witherington BE (eds) Loggerhead sea turtles. Smithsonian Books, Washington, pp 175–198
Marullo S, Santoleri R, Malanotte-Rizzoli P, Bergamasco A (1999) The sea surface temperature field in the eastern Mediterranean from AVHRR data. Part I: Seasonal variability. J Mar Syst 20:63–81
Musick JA, Limpus CJ (1997) Habitat utilisation and migration in juvenile sea turtles. In: Lutz PL, Musick JA (eds) The biology of sea turtles. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 137–164
Nichols WJ, Resendiz A, Seminoff JA, Resendiz B (2000) Transpacific migration of a loggerhead turtle monitored by satellite telemetry. Bull Mar Sci 67:937–947
Niiler PP, Davis RE, White HJ (1987) Water-following characteristics of a mixed-layer drifter. Deep Sea Res 34:1867–1881
Niiler PP, Sybrandy AS, Bi K, Poulain P-M, Bitterman D (1995) Measurements of the water-following capability of holey-sock and TRISTAR drifters. Deep Sea Res 42:1951–1964
Niiler PP, Maximenko NA, McWilliams JC (2004) Dynamically balanced absolute sea level of the global ocean derived from near-surface velocity observations. Geophys Res Lett 30:2164
Ohlmann JC, Niiler PP, Fox CA, Leben RR (2001) Eddy energy and shelf interactions in the Gulf of Mexico. J Geophys Res 106:2605
Papi F, Luschi P (1996) Pinpointing ‘isla meta’: the case of sea turtles and albatrosses. J Exp Biol 199:65–71
Pedlosky J (1979) Geophysical fluid dynamics. Springer, New York
Polovina JJ, Kobayashi DR, Parker DM, 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 9:71–82
Polovina JJ, Howell E, Parker DM, Balazs GH (2003) Dive-depth distribution of loggerhead (Carretta carretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles in the central North Pacific: might deep longline sets catch fewer turtles? Fish Bull 101:189–193
Poulain P-M (2001) Adriatic Sea surface circulation as derived from drifter data between 1990 and 1999. J Mar Syst 29:3–32
Poulain P-M, Zambianchi E (2006) Near-surface circulation in the central Mediterranean Sea as deduced from Lagrangian drifters in the 1990’s. Cont Shelf Res (in press)
Poulain P-M, Barbanti R, Cecco R, Fayos C, Mauri E, Ursella L, Zanasca P (2004) Mediterranean surface drifter database: 2 June 1986 to 11 November 1999. Technical report 78/2004/OGA/31, OGS, Trieste, Italy (CD-ROM and http://www.poseidon.ogs.trieste.it/drifter/database_med)
Rio M-H, Hernandez F (2003) A mean dynamic topography computed over the world ocean from altimetry, in situ measurements, and a geoid model. J Geophys Res 109:C12032
Robinson AR, Sellschopp J, Warn-Varnas A, Leslie WG, Lozano CJ, Haley PJ Jr, Anderson LA, Lermusiaux PFJ (1999) The Atlantic ionian stream. J Mar Syst 20:129–156
Uttieri M, Mazzocchi MG, Nihongi A, Ribera d’Alcalà M, Strickler JR, Zambianchi E (2004) Lagrangian description of zooplankton swimming trajectories. J Plankton Res 26:99–105
Uttieri M, Zambianchi E, Mazzocchi MG, Strickler JR (2005) Fractal characterization of three-dimensional zooplankton swimming trajectories. Ecol Model 185:51–63
Wessel P, Smith WHF (1991) Free software helps map and display data. EOS Trans AGU 72:445–446
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Gianfranco Mazza for his help with the tracking of turtles and we acknowledge use of the freely available GMT software (Wessel and Smith 1991) for graphics in this paper. We would also like to thank two anonymous referees whose comments helped to improve an earlier version of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by R. Cattaneo-Vietti.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bentivegna, F., Valentino, F., Falco, P. et al. The relationship between loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) movement patterns and Mediterranean currents. Mar Biol 151, 1605–1614 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0600-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0600-1