Download or read book Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Habitat Use by East Pacific Green Turtles Chelonia Mydas in a Highly Urbanized Foraging Ground written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, utilize coastal areas as foraging grounds for the majority of their lives. Human development of coastlines is increasing, but the effects of the urbanization of foraging grounds on green turtles are poorly understood. I used both manual and automated acoustic telemetry to determine the home ranges, movement behavior, and temporal patterns of site visitation of green turtles during 2009-2011 in San Diego Bay, California, a highly urbanized temperate foraging area. The home ranges of all tracked turtles were restricted to the southern portion of San Diego Bay, where eelgrass (Zostera marina) is abundant and where human activity is the lowest within the bay. Core activity areas coincided with eelgrass distribution or occurred adjacent to the warm water-effluent outfall of a waterfront power plant. Automated monitoring of sites throughout south San Diego Bay confirmed this finding, showing that green turtles most frequently visited the outfall of the power plant and areas known to contain eelgrass. This method also elucidated that turtle presence at the power plant was strongest during the winter and at night, whereas visitation to eelgrass areas was strongest during the spring and in the daytime. Turtle visitation to a high boat traffic shipping terminal was rare but occurred almost exclusively during the daytime, the period during which human activities in the area are also the highest. Manual tracking of green turtles similarly demonstrated that individuals ranged across larger portions of south San Diego Bay during the day, during which they exhibited high swimming speeds but highly non-linear movement. Turtle activity at night was primarily restricted to the power plant's effluent outfall channel and adjacent jetty. Nighttime movement was characterized by long periods of inactivity sporadically interrupted by brief, linear movements to new resting locations. Collectively, the results of this study paint a robust picture of the spatial, diel, and seasonal patterns of habitat use by green turtles in San Diego Bay. All data support the hypothesis that south San Diego Bay serves as important turtle habitat within the bay. Further, a combination of manual and automated acoustic telemetry enables a more complete understanding of turtle spatial ecology that would not have been possible with exclusive use of one technique. Future monitoring and modeling is required to document the potential effects of changing environmental conditions, including power plant closure, on green turtles resident to San Diego Bay. This study helps to assess the data gap of how turtles use urbanized foraging areas and changing coastal ecosystems, a currently novel scenario that will likely become commonplace in the face of increasing coastal development worldwide.

Download or read book Proceedings of the Thirty first Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Influence of Temperature on Habitat Use by East Pacific Green Turtles chelonian Mynas in an Urbanized Environment written by Sheila Veronica Madrak and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Project Overview. Thermal characteristics of marine environments are changing rapidly on both global and local scales. Worldwide, ocean temperatures are increasing -- a trend expected to continue (Meehl et al. 2005; Bindoff et al. 2007; IPCC 2007). However, at the local level water temperature is more variable, demonstrating both warming and cooling through space and time (Hoegh-Guldberg and Bruno 2010; Kosaka and Xie 2013). Many marine organisms are adapted to specific, often highly constrained, thermal ranges. Global climate change and anthropogenic influences have already had dramatic effects on marine species (Harley et al. 2006; IPCC 2007; Hoegh-Guldberg and Bruno 2010). While large-scale changes in temperature can be attributed to shifts in the global climate regime, there are other human-mediated factors that influence local thermal conditions. One major anthropogenic influence on local marine environments is thermal effluent from power plants and industry that utilize once-through cooling (OTC) systems. The stations that use OTC systems generate waste heat, a by-product of the cooling process, which must be released into the environment (either via cooling towers or natural water source). Thus, OTC system stations alter the thermal environment proximate to their locations. Although local and global scale changes may be driven by different factors, changes to the thermal environment at the local level can provide a model system to study the effects of largescale climate change. Characterizing the responses of coastal fauna to rapid shifts in thermal conditions addresses a key gap in ecological knowledge -- understanding how populations of longlived marine vertebrates will be affected by a thermally dynamic environment that is changing at rapid rate. The fossil fuel-based South Bay Power Plant (SBPP) in San Diego, California was in operation from 1960 to 2010 and discharged warm-water effluent into southern San Diego Bay (SDB) and utilized an OTC system. East Pacific green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), resident in SDB since at least the 1890's (Parsons 1962), have been routinely observed in the power plant outfall area since the 1960s (Stinson 1984; McDonald and Dutton 1990). Previous research suggests that these turtles used the outfall area to reduce metabolic costs and exhibit higher growth rates than other populations of green turtles (Eguchi et al. 2010, Eguchi et al. 2012). On December 31, 2009, two of the plant's four generators were permanently shut down; complete decommissioning of the plant occurred on December 31, 2010. This power plant closure provided a rare experimental opportunity to assess how rapid changes in the thermal environment will affect a resident marine turtle population in a coastal foraging area. The first chapter of my dissertation represents a review of the scientific studies that demonstrated physiological and behavioral changes across mobile aquatic reptiles utilizing these areas with heated effluent. I identify key responses to thermal effluent in reptiles in both marine and freshwater environments and present a case study from green turtles in SDB. The second chapter of my dissertation reflects my research using acoustic telemetry to monitor the changes in distribution and behavior of green turtles in response to the closure of the SBPP. The third and final chapter of my dissertation summarizes the changes of dive behavior by green turtles before and after the closure of the SBPP.

Download or read book Recovery Plan for U S Pacific Populations of the East Pacific Green Turtle Chelonia Mydas written by Pacific Sea Turtle Recovery Team (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Identifying foraging and space use patterns of juvenile green sea turtles Chelonia mydas in Brewers Bay St Thomas using a fine scale positioning acoustic array written by Taylor Brunson and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations in the Caribbean recover from historical overexploitation, growing environmental obstacles pose threats to the recovery of this species. The invasion of Halophila stipulacea seagrass in previously Syringodiumfiliforme and Halodule wrightii -dominated beds drastically alters the composition of green turtle foraging habitat. This change in forage supply for juvenile and adult green turtles in the Caribbean could impact their future habitat use and resource partitioning, information that conservation and management agencies use to implement protective guidelines for this species. We conducted a fine-scale tracking study of green turtles’ space use and movement patterns in Brewers Bay, St. Thomas to investigate their foraging selectivity in the mixed-species seagrass beds. The fine-scale positioning system(FPS) acoustic receiver array was deployed across ~1.5 km2 of the bay, which includes seagrass, coral reef, and sand/rock benthic habitat. Seventeen individual juvenile green sea turtles were tracked with acoustic transmitters with an estimated precision of ± 2meters. The native and invasive seagrass composition was mapped in the highest trafficked daytime area to pair with the turtles’ foraging locations. Turtles displayed typical diel patterns of movement with higher activity levels in shallow mixed-seagrass habitats during the day and lower activity levels in shallow reefs and rocky habitats at night. These movement results were linked to seagrass composition within the sampling grid using resource selection functions (RSF) to estimate turtle selection towards each seagrass species in Brewers Bay. Turtles were actively selecting the two native species, with no selection towards the invasive seagrass despite its high abundance. Interestingly, three individuals utilized foraging areas outside the sampling grid and in deeper water with monotypic invasive seagrass. This pattern of space use has not been observed in past tracking and observational studies in Brewers Bay, implying that part of this population has started modifying its foraging patterns to incorporate H. stipulacea.

Download or read book Recovery Plan for U S Pacific Populations of the Green Turtle Chelonia Mydas written by Pacific Sea Turtle Recovery Team (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Effects of Temperature and Habitat on the Movement Patterns of Green Sea Turtles Chelonia Mydas Within an Urbanized River and Local Estuary written by Daniel Crear and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Urban coastal development has led to major changes in ocean temperatures and habitats along the coastline. These alterations particularly affect coastal ectothermic marine species, such as green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas. This species has been observed north of their geographical range in the eastern Pacific; inhabiting a river and estuary that both have anthropogenically-altered water temperatures and habitats. Passive and active acoustic telemetry was used to determine how green sea turtle movements and habitat use were affected by these anthropogenically-altered sites. Turtles used both sites during the summer months, while during the winter, individuals selected for areas where warm water was discharged from power plants into the river. Further, turtles tracked in the larger river used more area than those tracked in the smaller estuary. Turtles selected habitats associated with manmade structures at both sites and eelgrass beds within the estuary to potentially rest and forage upon.

Download or read book Research and Management Techniques for the Conservation of Sea Turtles written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Home Range and Habitat Use of Juvenile Green Sea Turtles Chelonia Mydas in Brewers Bay St Thomas USVI written by Kari Gehrke and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Green turtles living in coastal foraging areas often occupy distinct home ranges within which they visit resting and foraging sites. Knowledge about the size of home ranges and movement patterns within these areas is important for sea turtle conservation. However, few data are available for the wider Caribbean. This study measured the movement pattern of five juvenile green sea turtles in Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. Each turtle was fitted with a V13 acoustic transmitter and tracked from 90 to 214 days. Turtles were tracked with a fixed array of 30 acoustic receiving stations placed ~200-260 meters apart throughout Brewers Bay. Minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel density estimator (KDE) techniques were used to measure home range size. Home ranges were split into days vs. night times and compared by using utilization distributions (UD). Habitat classification was done in areas of high turtle activity and overlapped with home ranges. A general linear model was used to explore the relationship between the home range size (95% UD), core area size (50% UD), and potential predictors: mass. Average KDE day home range size was 63.3 Ha and average day core area was 6.9 Ha. Average KDE night home range size was 35.9 Ha and average night core area was 5.1 Ha. All five incremental area plots became asymptotic, indicating that the home range estimates are robust. There was a statistically significant relationship between core area size and predictor variable (P-value= 0.002; mass). Tracking results showed that all five turtles remained in Brewers Bay for 98% of the tracking duration. During the day turtles were located in seagrass beds and at night they moved to resting areas associated with natural and artificial coral reefs. Core areas for foraging overlapped with seagrass beds dominated by Syringodium filiforme; turtles occurred less frequently in seagrass beds with the invasive Halophila stipulacea. During the night there is less activity when compared to day time hours. Our data confirm that Brewers Bay is an important foraging and resting habitat for juvenile green sea turtles and that their foraging movements center on areas with S. filiforme. These areas in return should receive focused management for both seagrass and reefs to protect green sea turtles. With this management these areas should receive protection from recreational boaters and tourists to prevent the spread of the invasive H. stipulacea

Download or read book Tracking Turtles Back in Time written by Calandra N. Turner Tomaszewicz and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the five species of sea turtles that inhabit the east Pacific Ocean, two, the North Pacific loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and East Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas), experience some of the highest rates of globally documented mortality in a productive foraging hotspot near the Baja California Peninsula (BCP), Mexico. This area, the Gulf of Ulloa, overlaps with high levels of fishing, resulting in thousands of dead turtles, many that wash up on the beach of Playa San Lázaro on the BCP. It is unknown how long loggerheads inhabit distinct regions of the North Pacific, and to what degree juvenile individuals in the population demonstrate variation in their life history patterns. Similarly, it is unknown how long green turtles occupy oceanic regions of the eastern Pacific before settling into more nearshore habitats, or how they use the Gulf of Ulloa. My research determined the residency duration at different foraging grounds within the eastern Pacific, as well as basic demographic information such as age-at-settlement, age-at-maturation, and timing of ontogenetic shifts, for these two endangered sea turtle populations. By determining life history parameters and the length of time individuals in these populations spend in distinct high-risk habitats, managers can better understand exposure to spatially explicit threats and prioritize conservation approaches. I focused particularly on duration of time spent in the high-bycatch waters of the Gulf of Ulloa. To this end, I developed a novel technique that combined skeletochronology (the study of growth and age increments in bones) with sequential stable carbon ([delta]13C) and nitrogen ([delta]15N) isotope analysis of humerus bone growth layers. Naturally occurring stable isotope gradients exist in ocean systems such that habitats and foraging behaviors can be distinguished (i.e. nearshore vs. offshore habitats or high vs. low trophic levels). Given these isotope gradients, the combination of skeletochronology with stable isotope analysis of sequentially sampled growth layers provides a multi-year record of location, diet, size, age, and annual growth of individual turtles, allowing the reconstruction of life history and long-term habitat use patterns. The combination of these techniques allowed me to address questions that could not be answered using either technique alone.

Download or read book Sea Turtle Research and Conservation written by Brad Nahill and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2020-11-27 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sea Turtles: Field Research and Conservation is a comprehensive reference of experiences with sea turtle species from global experts. This book looks at the human side of protecting and studying these unique animals around the world, as well as the challenges involved, such as cultural differences and conducting research in remote locations. Led by a renowned expert in sea turtle conservation, this book addresses the largest issue facing sea turtle species currently; nearly all species of sea turtles are endangered due to poaching, fishing snares, climate change, and more. Chapters in this book range from the use of cutting-edge technology to learn more about this elusive reptile, to working with communities with long histories of sea turtle trade and consumption. It provides readers with firsthand accounts of sea turtle conservation efforts from conservationists based around the world and offers important suggestions and solutions for ensuring the future of these sea turtle species. Sea Turtles: Field Research and Conservation is the ideal resource for field biologist and marine conservationists, specifically those working in marine herpetology and with sea turtle species. Policymakers concerned with marine conservation, wildlife protection, and sustainable development, will also find this a useful reference for efforts and directions to enact change and save sea turtles from extinction. Offers examples of groundbreaking technology to conduct noninvasive sea turtle research Written by global experts working in the field to study and protect sea turtle species Includes human-to-human case studies and advice for collaborating with cultures and communities to save these endangered animals

Download or read book The Leatherback Turtle written by James R. Spotila and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2015-10-30 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive book ever written on leatherback sea turtles. Weighing as much as 2,000 pounds and reaching lengths of over seven feet, leatherback turtles are the world’s largest reptile. These unusual sea turtles have a thick, pliable shell that helps them to withstand great depths—they can swim more than one thousand meters below the surface in search of food. And what food source sustains these goliaths? Their diet consists almost exclusively of jellyfish, a meal they crisscross the oceans to find. Leatherbacks have been declining in recent decades, and some predict they will be gone by the end of this century. Why? Because of two primary factors: human redevelopment of nesting beaches and commercial fishing. There are only twenty-nine index beaches in the world where these turtles nest, and there is immense pressure to develop most of them into homes or resorts. At the same time, longline and gill net fisheries continue to overwhelm waters frequented by leatherbacks. In The Leatherback Turtle, James R. Spotila and Pilar Santidrián Tomillo bring together the world’s leading experts to produce a volume that reveals the biology of the leatherback while putting a spotlight on the conservation problems and solutions related to the species. The book leaves us with options: embark on the conservation strategy laid out within its pages and save one of nature’s most splendid creations, or watch yet another magnificent species disappear.

Download or read book Synopsis of the Biological Data on the Green Turtle Chelonia Mydas Linnaeus 1758 written by Harold F. Hirth and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Decline of the Sea Turtles written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1990-02-01 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores in detail threats to the world's sea turtle population to provide sound, scientific conclusions on which dangers are greatest and how they can be addressed most effectively. Offering a fascinating and informative overview of five sea turtle species, the volume discusses sea turtles' feeding habits, preferred nesting areas, and migration routes; examines their status in U.S. waters; and cites examples of conservation measures under way and under consideration.

Download or read book Development of a Species Distribution Model for the East Pacific Green Sea Turtle Using Ecological Geoprocessing Tools written by Roxanne Duncan and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: East Pacific green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, play ecologically important roles in marine habitats which range from grazing (and thus regularly "mowing") algae and seagrass beds to cycling nutrients between the ocean and land. However, these important grazers have been hunted to ecological extinction in some places for their eggs, meat, and skin. The conservation initiative for the survival of sea turtles requires the protection of their primary habitats in conjunction with a decrease in their interaction with humans. One way these objectives can be met is through the creation of species distribution maps (SDMs). For this thesis, a SDM was created from a generalized additive model used to identify major feeding areas for East Pacific green turtles residing in the Galapagos Islands. The input for the model was green turtle sighting locations during a June 2010 marine life observation survey and remotely sensed values of four oceanographic parameters obtained from satellite sensors (Bathymetry, Sea Surface Temperature, Chlorophyll a, and Current Speed). Line transects of intertidal and subtidal shoreline regions of the islands of Isabela, San Cristobal, and Floreana were also completed, to describe similarities and differences in macroalgal abundance between the locations. A generalized additive model (GAM) explained 56% of the data's null deviance and had a true positive rate of 0.83. The corresponding species distribution map indicated that East Pacific green sea turtles prefer to forage in warm, low chlorophyll a, slow moving waters at depths mostly less than 250m throughout the archipelago. ANOVA analyses showed that macroalgal abundance was statistically different (p-value

Download or read book World Atlas of Seagrasses written by Frederick T. Short and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seagrasses are a vital and widespread but often overlooked coastal marine habitat. This volume provides a global survey of their distribution and conservation status.

Download or read book Assessing the Composition of Green Turtle Chelonia Mydas Foraging Grounds in Australasia Using Mixed Stock Analyses written by Michael Paul Jensen and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the population dynamics in both breeding and foraging habitats is a vital part of assessing the long-term viability of any species, especially those that are highly migratory. This is particularly true for green turtles, Chelonia mydas, which are long-lived marine turtles that undergo migrations for several years as post hatchlings until they select foraging grounds, and as adults, migrate between their foraging grounds and nesting beaches. Monitoring of populations at the foraging grounds may help detect early signs of population trends that would otherwise take decades to be observed at the nesting beach. In order to gain such insights the connectivity between nesting and foraging habitats must be established. Genetic analysis of rookeries to define discrete populations (stocks), in combination with Mixed Stock Analysis (MSA) based on data from molecular markers, provides an effective approach for estimating the origin of turtles sampled away from their nesting beach. In this thesis, new investigations into the genetic structure of green turtle populations in Australasia were conducted using longer (~780 bp) mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences, larger sample sizes and new locations. This information provided the baseline data used in Mixed Stock Analyses of the composition of foraging grounds in three regions of Australasia including Western Australia, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Malaysia. In chapter 2, I review what has been learned since the first MSA studies in marine turtles more than a decade ago. Since the early 1990s, numerous studies used this method to elucidate the rookery origins of young pelagic stage turtles and of older turtles in benthic foraging grounds, in fisheries by-catch and in strandings. These studies have all shown how Mixed Stock Analysis has provided valuable new insights into the distribution of marine turtles, although in most cases the estimates are affected by large uncertainty. Several issues in the effective use of MSA need to be addressed concerning study design, sample sizes and the resolution provided by the genetic marker. Nonetheless, Mixed Stock Analysis holds great potential for monitoring population trends at oceanic and coastal foraging grounds for all size classes. Comparisons of adults and juveniles provide an opportunity to pick up early signs of shifts in the contributions of populations that may indicate population decline (or increase) (e.g., Chapter 5). Recent increases in industrial development of coastal island and offshore habitats in Western Australia (WA) have highlighted the need to better understand the dynamics of marine turtle populations in these areas. An analysis of previously sampled populations (Management Units; MUs) and four new rookeries identified two possible new Management Units in this region at Cobourg Peninsula and Cocos (Keeling) Island and grouped Browse Island with the existing MU at Scott Reef and Barrow Island to the large North West Shelf MU. These analyses used a 780 bp sequence of the mtDNA control region that encompassed the 386 bp sequence used in a previous study. The longer sequence, larger sample sizes and new locations revealed more than doubled the number of haplotypes (n = 39) than previously observed. However, this made little difference to the population genetic structure as common haplotypes were still shared among population. MSA showed that the majority (>90%) of turtles foraging at Shark Bay were from neighbouring North West Shelf rookeries, while the Cocos (Keeling) foraging ground was composed of turtles mainly from Cocos (~70%), but with some contributions from North West Shelf and possibly Scott Reef MUs. In an investigation of foraging populations in Malaysia, mtDNA sequence data were analysed from 81 immature green turtles at two foraging grounds at Mantanani Island and Layang Layang Island located northwest of Sabah, Malaysia. Previously published data from 17 Australasian green turtle populations were used as the baseline data for tracing back the origin of turtles at the two foraging grounds. The majority of these turtles originated from major rookeries in the Malaysia and Philippine Turtle Islands (~30%), and Sarawak (~60%) in north-western Borneo. These same rookeries have a long tradition of using unshaded beach hatcheries that has resulted in the production of mostly female hatchlings. This may have contributed to the 1:4 female biases seen at the two foraging grounds. The implications of hatchery practises at nesting beaches are discussed and the importance of continued monitoring and research at these foraging areas is highly recommended to improve the management of marine turtles in the region. Detailed MSA of green turtle aggregations at six major foraging grounds along the east coast of Australian were combined with data from more than 30 years of mark–recapture efforts along the Great Barrier Reef. Overall, the MSA in combination with the mark-recapture data supports a model in which the foraging aggregations are composed of individuals from the two Great Barrier Reef stocks (nGBR, sGBR) with small contributions from other stocks. The north/south transect of foraging grounds analysed spanned ~2300 km. Along this transect the main contributor shifted from being predominantly the nGBR stock at foraging grounds in Torres Strait, Clack Reef and the Howicks Group to predominantly the sGBR stock at Edgecombe Bay, Shoalwater Bay and Moreton Bay. At the most northern foraging ground in the Torres Strait, significant shifts in haplotype frequencies between juveniles and adults resulted in major shifts in the estimated stock contributions for these groups. Fewer juveniles originated from the nGBR stock and higher proportion originated from the sGBR and „other‟ stocks in comparison to adults. This trend was apparent in the four most northern foraging grounds, even in Edgecombe Bay, which had a predominance of turtles from the sGBR stock. Point estimates of contributions from the nGBR stock dropped from 0.89 in adults to 0.53 in juveniles in Torres, Strait, from 0.69 to 0.49 at Clack Reef, from 0.66 to 0.49 in the Howicks Group and from 0.10 in adults to 0.01 in juveniles at Edgecombe Bay. In contrast, at the Shoalwater Bay foraging ground the opposite was observed, with a drop in contribution from the sGBR stock from 0.98 in adults to 0.84 and 0.85 in juveniles and sub-adults, respectively, and an increase in contributions from „other‟ stocks in juveniles and sub-adults. The observed patterns at the various foraging grounds likely resulted from several causes and four possible explanations are explored, the mostly likely of which were that (i) juveniles have shifted foraging grounds as they mature, or that (ii) reduced hatching success from the main nGBR rookery at Raine Island for more than a decade has resulted in reduced recruitment into the nGBR foraging ground. The later possibility suggests a need to take action to conserve the nGBR population The combined strength of data derived from mark-recapture studies, demographic studies to determine sex, maturity and breeding status of the turtles, genetic studies to determine stock composition and satellite telemetry, are needed to provide informed assessments of foraging populations necessary for guiding sustainable management of marine turtles.