Meeting Abstract

64.7  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Characterizing leatherback\’s migration pattern from satellite-derived behavioural and oceanographic data: a meta-analysis at the Atlantic Ocean scale FOSSETTE, S*; HOBSON, V.J.; GIRARD, C.; KLAASSEN, R.; GASPAR, P.; GEORGES, J.Y; HAYS, G.C; Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Swansea University; Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Swansea University; Collecte Localisation Satellites, Satellite Oceanography Division; Lund University; Collecte Localisation Satellites, Satellite Oceanography Division; Institut Pluridiciplinaire Hubert Curien, Université Louis Pasteur, CNRS; Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Swansea University sabrina.fossette@googlemail.com

The critically endangered leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, performs the widest migrations in any sea turtle species, encountering highly diverse environmental conditions worldwide. A comprehensive overview of its different migration strategies at the scale of an ocean basin is notably required for implementing concerted conservation strategies. Yet, to date this overview is still lacking in the Atlantic Ocean where the last world’s major leatherback populations occur. Here, we present the meta-analysis of the migration pattern of 21 satellite-tracked leatherbacks captured throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Using satellite-derived behavioural and oceanographic data, we show that leatherbacks disperse actively without using any migratory corridor, yet highly impacted by surface currents, to reach highly dynamic oceanographic features where biomass but also fisheries concentrate. Three main migration strategies were highlighted: the “round-trip”, the “northern” and the “equatorial” strategy.