Interpreting the Pre-Nesting Foraging Ecology of Florida’s Leatherback Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)

• Other Authors: Coppenrath, Christina (author), Baldwin, John D. (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Florida Atlantic University
• Subjects: Leatherback turtle > Florida; Dermochelys coriacea; Foraging behavior in animals; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013014; https://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A40793/datastream/TN/view/Interpreting%20the%20Pre-Nesting%20Foraging%20Ecology%20of%20Florida%E2%80%99s%20Leatherback%20Turtles%20%28Dermochelys%20coriacea%29.jpg

The migratory behavior of North Atlantic leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) has been documented in the Wider Caribbean, but the migratory movements of leatherbacks nesting in South Florida are relatively understudied. Our knowledge of their migrations is currently limited to ten nesting females tracked from the east coast of Florida that either moved north to the Northern Atlantic or east to the coast of Western Africa. These results bring to light the need for further investigation and larger sample sizes to identify and determine the relative importance of the different foraging areas for the leatherbacks nesting in South Florida. Here, I analyzed stable carbon (δ13C) and stable nitrogen (δ15N) values in whole blood and skin of leatherbacks nesting in South Florida between 2014 and 2017 to estimate the putative foraging origins of these nesters prior to coming to South Florida to nest. This study provides some of the first stable isotope inferences and insights into the variable pre-nesting foraging habitat locations of Florida’s leatherback population. Includes bibliography. Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection