Meeting Abstract
The Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) exhibits pan-specific migration behavior followed by mass nesting behavior (i.e. arribada behavior. In the current study, UAV-based aerial surveys using preprogrammed flight plans were used at the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle’s primary nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo, MX. Several different commercially available UAVs were used in the study using preprogrammed flight plans. Over 200 missions were flown during the 2018 nesting season. The results indicate that turtles gradually moved closer to shore several days prior to arribada nesting, and some relatively large in-water aggregations were recorded. The locations of the in-water aggregations as well as the locations of the arribada nesting was variable. The results also indicate that several days immediately prior to arribada nesting, turtles could move very close to shore and aggregate in the surf zone and adjacent waters. The in-water as well as nesting behaviors suggest that the turtles may be using specific aggregation cues and or nesting cues (e.g. social, environmental, etc.) to select aggregation and nesting locations. Collectively the results provide basic insight on migratory and arribada nesting behaviors in the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. This research was conducted as part of the ongoing Kemp’s Ridley Bi-National Conservation Program.
