Assessing the Relationship between Sea Turtle Strandings and Anthropogenic Impacts in Taiwan

Abstract

Data acquired from stranded sea turtles can provide awareness of human activities that adversely affect sea turtle populations. We assessed strandings of five sea turtle species between 2017 and 2021. This study utilizes principal component analysis (PCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to reveal potential causes of sea turtle strandings linked to anthropogenic effects in Taiwan. Although our study did not observe a statistically significant impact of offshore wind turbines on sea turtle strandings, it did find evidence of a significant direct effect of coral colony density, heavy metals, and fishing disturbance on such strandings. For the conservation of endangered sea turtles, we recommend the incorporation of PCA and SEM in further contexts for validating anthropogenic impact assessments.