Beach Use, Internesting Movement, and Migration of Leatherback Turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, Nesting on the North Coast of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Internesting and migratory movements of female leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) from Kamiali Wildlife Management Area were tracked by satellite telemetry during the 2001–2002 and 2002–2003 nesting seasons, and an aerial survey of nearly 2800 km of the north Papua New Guinea coastline and New Britain Island was conducted during January 2004. Nesting occurred during November–March at the Kamiali Wildlife Management Area monitoring beach with peak activity during December–January. Telemetry results indicated that nesting females used Huon Gulf waters adjacent to the nesting beach and renested inside and outside the protected area within the Kamiali Wildlife Management Area. After nesting, the turtles migrated over deep waters in a southeastern direction to high latitude waters of the South Pacific Ocean.