Examination of swimming velocities and habitat preferences of sea turtles using tracks and Lagrangian particles using HYCOM and Ichthyop from August 13, 2011 to August 20, 2014

Location data and oceanographic models were used to characterize the oceanographic conditions encountered by oceanic stage turtles, along with identifying their fine-scale habitat selection, dispersal and migration routes. To assess the role of swimming behavior on turtles’ movement, we estimated surface current velocity and sea surface temperature along the tracks of turtles with output from the Gulf of Mexico HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model. We used Ichthyop particle-tracking software to release virtual particles along turtle and drifter paths to calculate the difference in the particle velocity and turtle velocity between successive points.