South Australian Hardshell Marine Turtles - Tourists, Strandings, or Residents?

Original provider: Aub Strydom Dataset credits: Data provider: Aubrey Strydom; Originating data center: Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT); Project sponsor or sponsor description: Aub Strydom Abstract: Hardshell marine turtles - most commonly greens and loggerheads are occasionally found alive or dead on South Australian beaches.<br>Often they are not in good condition, and require rehabilitation.<br>Paddy is an exception, and was fat and healthy, measuring 89.5cm and weighing 83kg.<br>She was found at Middleton Beach 16th March 2023 in a large amount of seaweed, which may have restricted and exhausted her. <br>She arrived at Adelaide Zoo on St Patricks Day 17th March 2023 - hence the name Paddy.<br>She spent the next 2 weeks being examined and cared for by the Vets and Nurses at Adelaide Zoo.<br>After discussion with Marine Science turtle experts in Western Australia and Queensland - the decision was made by Marine Parks SA to release her on 31st March close to where she was found - Rapid Bay was chosen - away from the weed that may have slowed her swimming.<br>Her satellite tracker was borrowed at very short notice from the Marine Science section of the WA Parks and Wildlife, and has shown her first head North up Gulf St Vincent, where she reached the head on 13th April.<br>She basked on mudflats near Port Wakefield on 14th April, and for a second time on an isolated beach 27km north of Port Adelaide's Outer Harbour on 22nd April, after gradually swimming back down from the top of Gulf St Vincent.<br>She spent more than a week from the 24th April in the Port Adelaide estuary, and soon after 1st May swam across the Gulf to be 5km off the coast of the Yorke Peninsula on 5th May and began heading south until 10th May 2023, when she rounded the heel of the Peninsula at Troubridge Shoal Lighthouse, and began swimming west.<br>She followed the southern coast of Yorke Peninsula at about 17km a day, then swam NW at 51km a day, crossing 140km of deep water in lower Spencer Gulf in less than 3 days to get to the coast of Eyre Peninsula on 19th May 2023.<br>On 23rd May her temperature was 15.2C. She moved up into Franklin Harbour Marine Park for over a week. This bay is rich in seagrass, and she had plenty to forage on here.<br>On June 7th she was 60km north of Franklin Harbour, heading up the middle of Spencer Gulf, and began using an area on the eastern side about 7-25km south west of Port Pirie on the 9th June.<br>From 9th to 30th June to she remained here, foraging in an area 20km long and between 1km to 3km offshore. Then she slowly moved North towards Port Augusta, foraging south of the city for a month. Her coldest overwinter temperature was here at 8.2C, but for most of July was in the range 11C to 13C. From mid August she was hanging between the car and rail bridge in Pt Augusta, and in late August to mid September her temperature went up to stay between 15.2C and 15.5C.<br>During October she averaged around 17C, ranging 15C to 19.2C, having moved halfway down the eastern side of Spencer Gulf to the southern end of Moonta Bay, remaining mostly in nearshore shallow waters. <br>She turned north west here on 24th October, and reached the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula again on the 1st November, moving up to spend over a week just north of Whyalla till November 14th.<br>By 16th November she was back up in the very upper end of Spencer Gulf, with just 3km of sea left before the start of the arid lands.<br>For November her temperature ranged between 17.2C and 22.2C, and by the end of November she had moved 70km south to again be around Whyalla.<br>She then traveled down the coast to arrive at Port Lincoln and spend most of December there. Her last location was on 30th December and the final signal came on 1st January 2024. The battery was still good, so some possibilities include that she damaged the tracker, scrubbed it off, or it became so bio-fouled that the saltwater switch no longer operates. <br><br>The results from her DNA test suggest she most likely hatched in the Southern Great Barrier Reef - her size suggests about 35 years ago. <br>Her travels suggest she is a local SA resident forager, and not passing through, and she is the first hardshell turtle known to overwinter in South Australian waters, and the first to be tracked foraging in the two Gulfs.<br>原始提供方：奥布·斯特赖多姆（Aub Strydom） 数据集说明：数据提供方：奥布里·斯特赖多姆（Aubrey Strydom）；原始数据中心：卫星跟踪与分析工具（Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool, STAT）；项目资助方说明：奥布·斯特赖多姆（Aub Strydom） 摘要： 硬壳海龟——最常见的为绿海龟和红海龟——偶尔会在南澳大利亚州的海滩上被发现，或存活或已死亡。它们通常状态不佳，需要康复救助。 名为帕迪的个体则是个例外：它体态肥硕健康，体长89.5厘米，体重83千克。2023年3月16日，它在米德尔顿海滩的大片海藻中被发现，海藻可能限制了它的活动并使其体力耗尽。2023年3月17日圣帕特里克节当天，它被送往阿德莱德动物园，“帕迪”之名也由此而来。 随后的两周里，阿德莱德动物园的兽医与护理人员对其进行了检查与照料。 在与西澳大利亚州和昆士兰州的海洋科学海龟专家会商后，南澳大利亚州海洋公园管理方决定于3月31日将其放归至发现地附近海域，最终选定了雷皮德湾，以远离可能影响其游泳速度的海藻丛。 我们临时从西澳大利亚州公园与野生动物管理局的海洋科学部门借调了卫星追踪器，追踪数据显示，它最初向北行进至圣文森特湾，并于4月13日抵达湾头区域。 4月14日，它在韦克菲尔德港附近的潮间带泥滩晒太阳；4月22日，在从圣文森特湾头区域逐步向南返程后，它再次在阿德莱德港外港以北27公里处的一处僻静海滩晒背。 4月24日起，它在阿德莱德港河口停留了超过一周；5月1日过后不久，它横渡海湾，于5月5日抵达约克半岛沿岸外海5公里处，并开始向南行进，直至2023年5月10日在特鲁布里奇浅滩灯塔处绕过半岛南端，随后转向西向游动。 它以每日约17公里的速度沿约克半岛南海岸行进，随后以每日51公里的速度向西北方向游动，在不到3天的时间内横渡斯宾塞湾南部140公里的深水区，于5月19日抵达艾尔半岛沿岸。 5月23日，它的体温为15.2摄氏度。它随后进入富兰克林港海洋公园停留了一周以上，该海湾海草资源丰富，为它提供了充足的觅食场所。 6月7日，它位于富兰克林港以北60公里处，正沿斯宾塞湾中部向北行进，并于6月9日开始在皮里港西南约7至25公里处的东侧海域活动。 6月9日至30日，它一直停留于此，在长20公里、离岸1至3公里的海域内觅食。随后它缓慢向北前往奥古斯塔港，并在该市以南区域觅食了一个月。它在此处记录到的最低越冬体温为8.2摄氏度，而7月的多数时段体温维持在11至13摄氏度之间。8月中旬起，它一直在奥古斯塔港的公路铁路两用桥附近活动；8月下旬至9月中旬，其体温升至15.2至15.5摄氏度并保持稳定。 10月期间，它的平均体温约为17摄氏度，波动区间为15至19.2摄氏度；此间它已移动至斯宾塞湾东岸中段，抵达蒙塔湾南端，多数时间停留于近岸浅水区。 10月24日，它在此处转向西北方向，并于11月1日再次抵达艾尔半岛东岸，向北行进至怀阿拉以北区域停留了一周以上，直至11月14日。 截至11月16日，它已返回斯宾塞湾最北端的海域，距离干旱陆地仅余3公里的海面。 11月期间，它的体温波动区间为17.2至22.2摄氏度；至11月末，它向南移动了70公里，再次回到怀阿拉附近海域。 随后它沿海岸南下，抵达林肯港并在该处停留至12月的大部分时段。它的最后一处定位记录为12月30日，最终的信号传输于2024年1月1日终止。追踪器的电池仍电量充足，因此可能的原因包括：它损坏了追踪器、将其蹭掉，或是追踪器附着了过多海洋生物，导致海水开关无法正常工作。 DNA检测结果显示，它极有可能在大堡礁南部海域孵化，结合其体型推测其年龄约为35年。它的移动轨迹表明，它是南澳大利亚州的本地觅食种群，而非过境个体；它也是已知首只在南澳大利亚州水域越冬的硬壳海龟，同时是首只在圣文森特湾与斯宾塞湾两座海湾内被追踪觅食活动的硬壳海龟。