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. 2014 Jun 18;9(6):e100083.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100083. eCollection 2014.

Migrations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) between nesting and foraging grounds across the Coral Sea

Tyffen C Read  1 , Laurent Wantiez  2 , Jonathan M Werry  3 , Richard Farman  4 , George Petro  5 , Colin J Limpus  6
Affiliations

Migrations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) between nesting and foraging grounds across the Coral Sea

Tyffen C Read et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Marine megafauna tend to migrate vast distances, often crossing national borders and pose a significant challenge to managers. This challenge is particularly acute in the Pacific, which contains numerous small island nations and thousands of kilometers of continental margins. The green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, is one such megafauna that is endangered in Pacific waters due to the overexploitation of eggs and adults for human consumption. Data from long-term tagging programs in Queensland (Australia) and New Caledonia were analysed to investigate the migrations by C. mydas across the Coral Sea between their nesting site and their feeding grounds. A review of data collected over the last 50 years by different projects identified multiple migrations of C. mydas to and from New Caledonia (n = 97) and indicate that turtles foraging in New Caledonia nest in the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and vice versa. Several explanations exist for turtles exhibiting this energetically costly movement pattern from breeding to distant foraging grounds (1200-2680 km away) despite viable foraging habitat being available in the local vicinity. These include hatchling drift, oceanic movements and food abundance predictability. Most of the tag recoveries in New Caledonia belonged to females from the south Great Barrier Reef genetic stock. Some females (n = 2) even showed fidelity to foraging sites located 1200 km away from the nesting site located in New Caledonia. This study also reveals previously unknown migrations pathways of turtles within the Coral Sea.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Jonathan Werry is employed by Ocean and Coast Research. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Trajectory maps obtained by the tag recoveries (n = 93) and satellite tracking of C. mydas in the Coral Sea (n = 1).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Mean linear minimum distance (km) (± SE) from initial tagging locations in the Coral Sea.
nGBR (n = 2), sGBR (n = 39) and NC (n = 45).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Mean time (days) from initial tagging locations in the Coral Sea.
sGBR (n = 31) and NC (n = 58).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Foraging site fidelity recorded by two females C. mydas originally tagged in Australia, found nesting in New Caledonia and recaptured in subsequent years back at their respective feeding grounds.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Mean CCL (cm) (± SE) at two nesting areas in the Coral Sea.
sGBR (n = 15) and NC (n = 32).
Figure 6
Figure 6. Distribution of the mean CCL (cm) at two nesting areas in the Coral Sea.
sGBR (n = 15) and NC (n = 32).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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