Abstract
Sea turtles found stranded on beaches are often rehabilitated before being released back into the wild. The location and date of release is largely selected on an informal basis, which may not maximise the chance of survival. As oceanic conditions have a large influence on the movements of neonate sea turtles, this study aimed to identify the best locations and months to release rehabilitated sea turtles that would assist in their transport by ocean currents to the habitat and thermal conditions required for their survival. A particle tracking model, forced by ocean surface velocity fields were used to simulate the dispersal pathways of millions of passively drifting particles released from different locations in Western Australia. The particles represented rehabilitated, neonate turtles requiring oceanic habitats (green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and loggerheads (Caretta caretta)) and flatback turtles (Natator depressus) which require neritic habitats. The results clearly identified regions and months where ocean currents were more favourable for transport to suitable habitats. Tantabiddi, near Exmouth on the north-west coast, was consistently the best location for release for the oceanic species, with dominant offshore-directed currents and a very narrow continental shelf reducing the time taken for particles to be transported into deep water. In contrast, release locations with more enclosed geography, wide continental shelves, and/or proximity to cooler ocean temperatures were less successful. Our results produced a decision support system for the release of neonate marine turtles in Western Australia and our particle tracking approach has global transferability.
Highlights
Introduction2012; Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Audubon Aquarium, 2013; The Turtle Hospital, 2017)
Sick or injured sea turtles are taken into care and where possible are rehabilitated and released back into the wild (Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Audubon Aquarium, 2013; Craige, 2014)
Turtle migration and transportation by ocean currents has been widely studied using particle tracking with ocean circulation models, for both adult and neonate turtles, but this study was to our knowledge the first to attempt to use it to provide a quantitative approach to the selection of release sites and timing for rehabilitated sea turtles
Summary
2012; Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Audubon Aquarium, 2013; The Turtle Hospital, 2017) This best available knowledge approach is currently used in Western Australia, but given that all sea turtle species are threatened and the significant level of community labor and expense involved in rehabilitation, a more considered approach using multiple lines of evidence might increase chances of survival for these individuals (Caillouet et al, 2016). Post-hatchling and neonate green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and flatback sea (Natator depressus) turtles commonly strand in Western Australia (Department of Parks and Wildlife unpublished data). They are all listed as either vulnerable or endangered under the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Environment, 2014) and as endangered or critically endangered (except the flatback which is data deficient) by the IUCN (IUCN Red List, 2014)
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