Marine animals, such as turtles, seabirds and pelagic fishes, are observed to travel and congregate around eddies in the open ocean. Mesoscale eddies, large swirling ocean vortices with radius scales of approximately 50–100 km, provide environmental variability that can structure these populations. In this study, we investigate the use of mesoscale eddies by 24 individual juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region. The influence of eddies on turtles is assessed by collocating the turtle trajectories to the tracks of mesoscale eddies identified in maps of sea level anomaly. Juvenile loggerhead sea turtles are significantly more likely to be located in the interiors of anticyclones in this region. The distribution of surface drifters in eddy interiors reveals no significant association with the interiors of cyclones or anticyclones, suggesting higher prevalence of turtles in anticyclones is a result of their behavior. In the southern portion of the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region, turtle swimming speed is significantly slower in the interiors of anticyclones, when compared to the periphery, suggesting that these turtles are possibly feeding on prey items associated with anomalously low near-surface chlorophyll concentrations observed in those features.
Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America;College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America;Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America;Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos, Montevideo, Uruguay;Centro de Investigación y Conservación Marina (CICMAR), El Pinar, Canelones, Uruguay;Projecto TAMAR, Fundação Pró Tamar / ICMBio, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;Projecto TAMAR, Fundação Pró Tamar / ICMBio, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;NOAA Fisheries, Long Beach, California, United States of America
Recommended Citation:
Peter Gaube,Caren Barceló,Dennis J. McGillicuddy Jr.,et al. The use of mesoscale eddies by juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the southwestern Atlantic[J]. PLOS ONE,2017-01-01,12(3)