Leatherback Tracking in South Africa

Original provider:
Islameta Group, Dept. of Biology - University of Pisa

Dataset credits:
Islameta Group - Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy

Abstract:
The Indian Ocean has many breeding areas for sea turtles, the southernmost ones being on the Maputaland coast of KwaZulu-Natal, where leatherback turtles nest in large numbers thanks to long-lasting protection programs. For the leatherback this is the only known nesting site in the entire western Indian Ocean. At the end of the reproductive season, leatherbacks undertake migrations towards disparate feeding areas. To contribute to their conservation, the migratory behavior of these animals has been studied by satellite telemetry for several years. This species turned out to frequent widely dispersed areas ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mozambique Channel, performing large-scale wandering probably due to the leatherbacks' feeding habits on macroplankton such as jellyfish and salps. These movements have been shown to be heavily influenced by the main oceanic currents and oceanographic mesoscale features occurring in the areas crossed.