Migratory activity by hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.): evidence for divergence between nesting groups |
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Authors: | Jeanette Wyneken Sheila V Madrak Michael Salmon and Jerris Foote |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Box 3091, Boca Raton, FL, USA;(2) Sea Turtle Program, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL, USA;(3) Present address: Parks and Recreation, Phillippe Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL, USA |
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Abstract: | The South Florida subpopulation of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.) nests with great fidelity on either the southeast or the southwest coast of Florida, USA. The hatchlings that emerge
from those nests must swim in opposite directions and search for different surface currents to migrate away from continental
shelf waters. In this laboratory study, we compared the pattern of swimming activity shown by the hatchlings from each coast
over the first 6 days of migration. Turtles from both coasts were equally active during their “frenzy” period (the first 24 h
of swimming) and during the daylight hours of the 5 days that followed (the “postfrenzy” period). However, the west coast
turtles were significantly more active than the east coast turtles during the nocturnal portion of the postfrenzy period.
This difference may be related to the greater distance southwest coast turtles must negotiate to locate surface currents for
transport out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic Ocean basin. These differing behavioral strategies may be genetically
determined, as similar correspondence between activity and distance is well known among migratory populations of birds and
fish and is often based upon inherited programs of endogenously driven activity. Alternatively, behavioral differences between
the two nesting groups could be a manifestation of phenotypic plasticity that arises as the hatchlings respond to unique environmental
cues on each coast. |
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