Meeting Abstract

P1.32  Friday, Jan. 4  Spatial and Temporal Distributions of Sea Turtles in the Florida Gulf Stream BOVERY, CM*; WYNEKEN, J; Florida Atlantic University; Florida Atlantic University cbovery@fau.edu

An understanding of the spatial and temporal distributions of a species is essential to understanding its basic habitat needs including large-scale movements and seasonal changes in behavior. Such basic information for large pelagic vertebrate is often restricted to satellite tag data or coastal observation. For species that undergo spatially discrete habitat shifts through their various life stages, such information is often incomplete. Sea turtles are migratory throughout their lives. Their habitats range from coastal foraging grounds to pelagic fronts and are linked by migratory corridors. We conducted approximately monthly aerial surveys of the Florida Current between the southeast coast of Florida and the Bahamas banks to establish when and where sea turtles used this fast moving component of the Gulfstream Current. The initial year of surveys identified loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) turtles as the most frequently observed species. Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and other sea turtles not identified to species were also observed. Locations of sea turtle sightings suggest presence along the western edge of the Florida Current peaks in the spring and early summer during breeding season. Additionally, few to no sightings in areas farther offshore (20-60nm) suggest either turtles seldom use these waters or water speeds are fast enough to exceed our resolution. These data both expand our understanding of current use by migratory turtles and bolster spatially and temporally explicit conservation strategies that emerge with growing utilization of oceanic resources.