Meeting Abstract
While many leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting populations worldwide are decreasing, the North Atlantic population is considered Least Concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Florida’s beaches, in particular, have experienced increased nesting numbers (10-11% per year on average) since organized nesting surveys began in 1979. With these increasing numbers, it is important to know which geographic areas are providing the energy sources necessary for vitellogenesis, migration, and nesting. While the migratory behavior of North Atlantic leatherback females has been documented in the Wider Caribbean, the migratory movements of South Florida’s nesters are relatively understudied. Our knowledge of their migrations is currently limited to ten nesting females tracked from the east coast of Florida that either moved north to the North Atlantic or east to the coast of Western Africa, which brings to light the need for larger sample sizes in order to make population scale conclusions about the relative importance of different foraging areas for the South Florida leatherbacks. Here, we analyzed δ13C and δ15N signatures in whole blood and skin samples from leatherbacks nesting in South Florida between 2014 and 2017 to estimate where these nesters had been foraging prior to migrating to South Florida to nest. Additionally, we encountered remigrant turtles and were able to assess whether their foraging sites had changed from previous years. Forage quantity and quality can impact on the number of individual females that are able to nest in subsequent seasons. Florida’s leatherback turtles appear to seek food over a broad geographic region, which may provide them with a degree of flexibility when some foraging areas are more favorable than others.
