Trans-Pacific dispersal of loggerhead turtle hatchlings inferred from numerical simulation modeling |
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Authors: | Junichi Okuyama Takashi Kitagawa Kei Zenimoto Shingo Kimura Nobuaki Arai Yoshikazu Sasai Hideharu Sasaki |
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Institution: | (1) Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida Hon-Machi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan;(2) Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan;(3) Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25, Showa-Machi, Kanazawa, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan;(4) Earth Simulator Centre, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-Machi, Kanazawa, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan |
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Abstract: | We used Lagrangian numerical simulations to examine the trans-Pacific dispersal processes of loggerhead turtle hatchlings.
Ten thousand simulated particles were released from each of the three nesting regions in Japan and tracked for 5 years. Results
showed many particles moving eastward, drifting in the Kuroshio Current followed by the Kuroshio Extension Current. However,
no particles reached Baja California, a known feeding area, through passive processes, indicating that trans-Pacific transportation
requires active swimming by turtles. The duration of the trans-Pacific dispersal was estimated to be at least 1.6–3.4 years,
with some turtles drifting in the Kuroshio Countercurrent and remaining in the western Pacific even after 5 years. This indicates
that as revealed by previous genetic studies, not all loggerheads always disperse along a trans-Pacific route. The findings
showed that survival and expected growth rates varied widely according to ambient temperatures during drifting, which in turn
depended on nesting location. |
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