Nomadic behaviour of the highly migratory olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean

Abstract

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 13:33-40 (2010) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00314 Nomadic behaviour of the highly migratory olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean Pamela T. Plotkin* Cornell University, Office of Sponsored Programs, 373 Pine Tree Road, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA *Email: ptp8@cornell.edu ABSTRACT: I studied the post-reproductive migrations of 30 male and female olive ridley sea turtles Lepidochelys olivacea in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) using satellite telemetry. Long-term data revealed that turtles were widely distributed in the pelagic zone from Mexico to Peru and lacked migratory corridors. Turtles migrated long distances, swam continuously, displayed no fidelity to specific feeding habitats, and were nomadic. An El Niño occurred in the middle of the study, and turtle migration patterns changed in response. ETP olive ridleys likely evolved migratory flexibility to adapt to the frequent and unpredictable environmental change characteristic of their large dynamic marine ecosystem. This suggests that ETP olive ridleys may be less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than other sea turtle species. KEY WORDS: Lepidochelys olivacea · Eastern tropical Pacific · Satellite telemetry · Nomadic · Highly migratory · El Niño Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Plotkin PT (2010) Nomadic behaviour of the highly migratory olive ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Endang Species Res 13:33-40. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00314Export citation Mail this link - Contents Mailing Lists - RSS Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 13, No. 1. Online publication date: December 03, 2010 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2010 Inter-Research.