Meeting Abstract

P2-89  Monday, Jan. 5 15:30  Sea-finding Orientation of Hatchling Kemp’s Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) Sea Turtles at the Natural Nesting Beach at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico BONKA, A*; HERNANDEZ, M.H.; WIBBELS, T; MARTINEZ, L.S.; MARTINEZ, M.A.C.; NAJERA, B.M.Z.; ILLESCAS, F; PENA, L.J.; BURCHFIELD, P.M.; SCHROEDER, B; POSSARDT, E; Univ. of Alabama at Brimingham; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham; CONANP, Mexico City, Mexico; CONANP, Rancho Nuevo, Mexico; CONANP, Ciudad Victoria, Mexico; CDEN, Tamaulipas, Mexico; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville, TX; NOAA, Silver Spring, MD; US Fish and Wildlife Services, Arlington, VA abonka@uab.edu

An important event in the life history of sea turtles is the sea-finding orientation of hatchlings following emergence. This event is critical to the survival of hatchlings and is therefore of biological, behavioral, and conservational interest. The current study evaluated sea-finding behavior in hatchlings produced in the Bi-National Kemp’s Ridley Recovery Program. Sea-finding behavior was evaluated in orientation arenas on the natural nesting beach. The orientation arena facilitated the quantifying of hatchling movements. Trials were conducted using two different horizon regimes and three different time periods in the early morning during the 2014 nesting season at the primary nesting beach located at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico. Trials were run with ten to fifty hatchlings per time period and all hatchlings were used only once per trial. The results indicate that factors such as openness of horizon and the surrounding light-field affected hatchling orientation. These findings suggest that visual cues represent important components in sea-finding behavior. The results have implications for the biology and conservation of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.