First Atlantic satellite tracks of lost years green turtles support the importance of the Sargasso Sea as a sea turtle nursery

In-water behaviour and long-term movements of oceanic-stage juvenile sea turtles are not well described or quantified. This is due to technological or logistical limitations of tracking small, fast-growing animals across long distances and time-periods within marine habitats. Here we present the first long-term offshore tracks of oceanic green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in western North Atlantic waters. Using a tag attachment technique developed specifically for young (<1 year old) green turtles, we satellite tracked 21 oceanic-stage green turtles (<19 cm straight carapace length) up to 152 days using small, solar-powered transmitters. We verify that oceanic-stage green turtles: (i) travel to and remain within oceanic waters; (ii) often depart the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre currents, orienting toward waters associated with the Sargasso Sea; (iii) remain at the sea surface, using thermally-beneficial habitats that promote growth and survival of young turtles; and...

大洋阶段幼年海龟的水中行为与长期移动尚未得到充分描述或量化。这是由于在海洋栖息地内对小型、快速生长的动物进行长距离、长时间追踪存在技术或后勤限制。在此，我们呈现北大西洋西部水域中大洋绿海龟（Chelonia mydas）的首个长期离岸轨迹数据。我们采用专为幼年（<1岁）绿海龟开发的标签附着技术，通过小型太阳能发射器对21只大洋阶段绿海龟（直甲长<19厘米）进行了长达152天的卫星追踪。我们证实大洋阶段绿海龟具有以下特征：（i）前往并停留于大洋水域；（ii）常脱离墨西哥湾流与北大西洋亚热带环流，朝向与马尾藻海相关的水域移动；（iii）停留在海面，利用利于幼龟生长和存活的热益栖息地；以及……