Abstract
<p>Existe poca información disponible sobre los sitios de forrajeo de las poblaciones de tortugas marinas del Pacífico Oriental, lo cual dificulta el diseño de estrategias de conservación tanto en el ámbito nacional como internacional. Realizamos observaciones en cinco sitios a lo largo del Pacífico Norte de Costa Rica (Cabo Blanco, Punta Coyote, Punta Pargos, Punta Argentina y Bahía Matapalito) entre el 2010-2013, utilizando redes de enmalle tortugueras con luz de malla de 45 cm, con el objetivo de explorar y documentar nuevos sitios de forrajeo. Estandarizamos la Captura Por Unidad de Esfuerzo (CPUE) como tortugas capturada por 100m de relinga superior por hora de inmersión, el cual varió de 0.06 en Punta Pargos hasta 0.58 en Bahía Matapalito para tortugas carey (Eretmochelys imbricata), y de 0.01 en Punta Coyota hasta 0.10 en Cabo Blanco para tortugas verde del Pacífico (Chelonia mydas). Encontramos rangos de tamaño específicos por sitio para E.imbricata en Bahía Matapalito y Cabo Blanco, con promedio ± Desviación Estándar (SD) del Largo Curvo de Caparazón (CCL) de 42.46 ± 17.66cm y 61.25±13.08cm respectivamente. Tan solo se encontró un individuo en los demás sitios con CCL de 49.6cm hasta 60.5 cm. Se capturaron tortugas verde en tres de los sitios observados, con CCL de 67.67±19.44cm en Cabo Blanco, 69.40±9.40cm en Punta Coyote. y un único individuo en Bahía Matapalito con un CCL de 56.2cm. La ausencia de clases de tamaño de adultos para E.imbricata, así como de clases de tamaño de juveniles para la tortuga verde del Pacífico, enfatiza la complejidad de la distribución específica por especies durante las distintas fases de vida de las tortugas marinas en el Pacífico Oriental, y la necesidad emergente de implementar monitoreos a largo plazo en diferentes sitios a lo largo del Pacífico Norte del país para comprender la conectividad entre hábitats. El presente estudio revela la existencia de sitios de forrajeo frágiles desprotegidos para la tortuga carey y verde en el Pacífico norte de Costa Rica, y sirve de guía para futuras iniciativas de investigación para fortalecer estrategias de conservación en el ámbito nacional e internacional.</p>
Highlights
All Pacific Costa Rican sea turtle species are listed under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Olive Ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) as “vulnerable”, Eastern Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) as “endangered”, and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) as “critically endangered” (IUCN, 2013)
An important inshore foraging ground for green and hawksbill turtles was recently identified in the Golfo Dulce, located in Costa Rica’s south Pacific (Chacón-Chaverrí, Martínez-Cascante, Rojas, & Fonseca, 2014a,b), which complements the first description of a foraging ground for resident subadult green and juvenile hawksbill turtles located at Punta Coyote, in the northern Pacific of Costa Rica (Carrión-Cortez, Canales-Cerro, Arauz, & Riosmena-Rodríguez, 2013)
Hawksbill turtles recorded in Punta Coyote (Carrión Cortés et al 2013) included several juvenile males, identified as such by secondary sexual characteristics such as notably elongated tails, and which turned out to be smaller Carapace Lengths (CCL) than the previously reported mean nesting size (MNS)
Summary
All Pacific Costa Rican sea turtle species are listed under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Olive Ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) as “vulnerable”, Eastern Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) as “endangered”, and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) as “critically endangered” (IUCN, 2013). Long term studies in the Caribbean demonstrated the existence of benthic developmental habitats for juvenile hawksbill and green turtles, described as discrete inshore systems characterized by the dominance of small size classes, which are geographically distinct from younger juveniles in pelagic stages and from adults in foraging grounds (Carr, Carr, & Meylan, 1978; Meylan, Meylan, Grey, 2011). Two pioneer studies regarding nesting hawksbill and green turtles in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, revealed the regional connectivity of this nesting beach with their foraging grounds in the Caribbean (Troëng, Dutton, Evans 2005; Troëng, Evans, Harrison, Lageeux, 2005). The goal of this study was to identify future national sea turtle research guidelines, designed to protect all life stages of eastern Pacific sea turtle populations and contribute to integrated regional sea turtle conservation strategies, by exploring new sea turtle foraging grounds along the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica
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