Pacific turtle tracks: Turtle-Safe Seas Project

Original provider:
Blue Ocean Institute

Dataset credits:
Blue Ocean Institute

Abstract:
The oceanic movements of loggerhead turtles (<i>Caretta caretta</i>), green turtles (<i>Chelonia mydas</i>), and a Pacific ridley turtle (<i>Lepidochelys olivacea</i>) were monitored with satellite telemetry between 1996 and 2001 in the Pacific Ocean. During this time, several turtles migrated across the Pacific Ocean, covering more than 11,500 km between Santa Rosalita, Baja California, Mexico (28 degrees 40 minutes N, 114 degrees 14 minutes W), and Sendai Bay, Japan (37 degrees 54 minutes N, 140 degrees 56 minutes E). These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that loggerheads feeding in the eastern Pacific eventually return to nest on western Pacific beaches. Baja California loggerhead turtles have been shown, through molecular genetic analysis and flipper tag returns, to be primarily of Japanese origin. <br><br>
We conclude that loggerhead turtles are capable of transpacific migrations and propose that the band of water between 25 and 30 degrees north latitude, the Subtropical Frontal Zone, may be an important transpacific migratory corridor. Recent findings indicate that juvenile loggerheads in the North Pacific move westward against weak (0.1 - 0.3 km/hr) eastward geostrophic currents, demonstrating that passive drift may not entirely explain the dispersal of loggerheads.

原始提供方：蓝海研究所（Blue Ocean Institute）

数据集来源：蓝海研究所（Blue Ocean Institute）

摘要：
1996年至2001年间，研究人员借助卫星遥测技术（satellite telemetry），对太平洋海域的红海龟（Caretta caretta）、绿海龟（Chelonia mydas）以及太平洋丽龟（Lepidochelys olivacea）的海洋活动展开监测。在此期间，多只海龟完成了跨太平洋迁徙，从墨西哥下加利福尼亚州圣罗萨利塔（北纬28°40′，西经114°14′）至日本仙台湾（北纬37°54′，东经140°56′）的迁徙里程超过11500千米。上述研究结果与"东太平洋觅食的红海龟最终会返回西太平洋海滩筑巢"这一假说相符。通过分子遗传学分析与鳍肢标记回收数据，已证实下加利福尼亚海域的红海龟主要源自日本种群。

研究团队得出结论：红海龟具备跨太平洋迁徙的能力，并提出北纬25°至30°之间的水域——亚热带锋面带（Subtropical Frontal Zone）——或为重要的跨太平洋洄游通道。近期研究表明，北太平洋的幼年红海龟会逆流向西游动，对抗流速仅0.1至0.3千米/小时的东向地转流（geostrophic currents），这意味着被动漂流或许无法完全解释红海龟的扩散机制。