Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf
Leatherback sea turtles ( Dermochelys coriacea ) migrate along the east coast of the United States, traversing the South and Mid-Atlantic Bights (SAB and MAB) while traveling to and from well-known northern foraging areas off Southern New England (SNE) and Nova Scotia. However, there is limited info...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139 2024-02-11T10:07:14+01:00 Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf Rider, Mitchell J. Avens, Larisa Haas, Heather L. Hatch, Joshua M. Patel, Samir H. Sasso, Christopher R. 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 11 ISSN 2296-7745 Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography journal-article 2024 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139 2024-01-26T10:08:16Z Leatherback sea turtles ( Dermochelys coriacea ) migrate along the east coast of the United States, traversing the South and Mid-Atlantic Bights (SAB and MAB) while traveling to and from well-known northern foraging areas off Southern New England (SNE) and Nova Scotia. However, there is limited information on leatherback movement behavior in these regions. To identify leatherback movement patterns, we fit hidden Markov models (HMMs) to satellite transmitter data from 52 leatherbacks tagged between 2017 and 2022 off the coasts of Massachusetts and North Carolina to estimate locations of area restricted searching (ARS) and transient behaviors. Depth-temperature profiles were then paired to locations associated with ARS behavior to understand the vertical use of the water column. We observed leatherbacks displaying ARS behavior in SNE as expected, but also in the MAB and SAB. The HMM results indicated that leatherbacks were primarily foraging in SNE between Nantucket and Long Island Sound and depth-temperature plots from ARS behavior on Nantucket Shoals implied turtles foraging throughout the entire water column. In the MAB, ARS behavior was concentrated between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and the mouth of Delaware Bay during the summer. Turtles were closely associated with a well-defined thermocline, but still appeared to dive to deeper cooler waters, which may be a sign of thermoregulatory behavior. There was evidence of foraging in the SAB along the coast as well as along the continental shelf edge. The ARS behavior we documented within the MAB and SAB is the first published empirical evidence that both areas may be important foraging grounds. Our results lay a path for future research to understand how leatherbacks use these areas and the potential anthropogenic threats encountered while moving through these regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Atlantic Frontiers (Publisher) Long Island Long Island Sound ENVELOPE(-79.366,-79.366,54.800,54.800) Nantucket ENVELOPE(-61.917,-61.917,-74.583,-74.583) Frontiers in Marine Science 11 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Frontiers (Publisher) |
op_collection_id |
crfrontiers |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography Rider, Mitchell J. Avens, Larisa Haas, Heather L. Hatch, Joshua M. Patel, Samir H. Sasso, Christopher R. Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
description |
Leatherback sea turtles ( Dermochelys coriacea ) migrate along the east coast of the United States, traversing the South and Mid-Atlantic Bights (SAB and MAB) while traveling to and from well-known northern foraging areas off Southern New England (SNE) and Nova Scotia. However, there is limited information on leatherback movement behavior in these regions. To identify leatherback movement patterns, we fit hidden Markov models (HMMs) to satellite transmitter data from 52 leatherbacks tagged between 2017 and 2022 off the coasts of Massachusetts and North Carolina to estimate locations of area restricted searching (ARS) and transient behaviors. Depth-temperature profiles were then paired to locations associated with ARS behavior to understand the vertical use of the water column. We observed leatherbacks displaying ARS behavior in SNE as expected, but also in the MAB and SAB. The HMM results indicated that leatherbacks were primarily foraging in SNE between Nantucket and Long Island Sound and depth-temperature plots from ARS behavior on Nantucket Shoals implied turtles foraging throughout the entire water column. In the MAB, ARS behavior was concentrated between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and the mouth of Delaware Bay during the summer. Turtles were closely associated with a well-defined thermocline, but still appeared to dive to deeper cooler waters, which may be a sign of thermoregulatory behavior. There was evidence of foraging in the SAB along the coast as well as along the continental shelf edge. The ARS behavior we documented within the MAB and SAB is the first published empirical evidence that both areas may be important foraging grounds. Our results lay a path for future research to understand how leatherbacks use these areas and the potential anthropogenic threats encountered while moving through these regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rider, Mitchell J. Avens, Larisa Haas, Heather L. Hatch, Joshua M. Patel, Samir H. Sasso, Christopher R. |
author_facet |
Rider, Mitchell J. Avens, Larisa Haas, Heather L. Hatch, Joshua M. Patel, Samir H. Sasso, Christopher R. |
author_sort |
Rider, Mitchell J. |
title |
Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf |
title_short |
Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf |
title_full |
Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf |
title_fullStr |
Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf |
title_full_unstemmed |
Where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the Northwest Atlantic shelf |
title_sort |
where the leatherbacks roam: movement behavior analyses reveal novel foraging locations along the northwest atlantic shelf |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139/full |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-79.366,-79.366,54.800,54.800) ENVELOPE(-61.917,-61.917,-74.583,-74.583) |
geographic |
Long Island Long Island Sound Nantucket |
geographic_facet |
Long Island Long Island Sound Nantucket |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 11 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1325139 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
11 |
_version_ |
1790605412992548864 |